Narrative poems on the Female Character in the various relations of life. By Mary Russell Mitford ... Vol. I |
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 | Narrative poems on the Female Character |  |
XLV.
Conspicuous from her rich attire,Blanch pass'd through many a crowded street;
Once could that form all ages fire;
All prest to gaze and to admire;
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Save those, the basest of the base,
Who, from her high and eminent place,
Would pluck ennobled Virtue down;
Who love to glut their fiendlike eye,
With sight of princely misery,
And hate all brows that wear a crown.
From such the jest obscene she heard,
The gibing taunt, the bitter word
Which licens'd vice pours in the ear
Of suffering modesty;
Such sounds to be condemn'd to hear,
Was punishment far more severe,
More dreadful destiny,
Than Merida's extremest hate,
Or the King's wrath could meditate.
| Narrative poems on the Female Character | |