A Miscellany of Poems consisting of Original Poems, Translations, Pastorals in the Cumberland Dialect, Familiar Epistles, Fables, Songs, and Epigrams, by the late Reverend Josiah Relph ... With a Preface and a Glossary |
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Occasion'd by a little Miss's bursting out
into tears upon reading the Ballad of
the Babes in the Wood.
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 | A Miscellany of Poems |  |
Occasion'd by a little Miss's bursting out into tears upon reading the Ballad of the Babes in the Wood.
As the sad tale with accents sweet,
The little ruby lips repeat,
Soft pity feels the tender breast
For infant innocence distress'd.
The bosom heaves with rising woe,
Short and confus'd the pauses grow,
Brimful the pretty eye appears,
And—bursts at last a flood of tears.
Sweet softness! still ô still retain
This social heart, this sense humane:
Still kindly for the wretched bleed,
And no returns of pity need.
The little ruby lips repeat,
Soft pity feels the tender breast
For infant innocence distress'd.
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Short and confus'd the pauses grow,
Brimful the pretty eye appears,
And—bursts at last a flood of tears.
Sweet softness! still ô still retain
This social heart, this sense humane:
Still kindly for the wretched bleed,
And no returns of pity need.
In plenty flow thy days and ease,
Soft pleasures all conspire to please;
Long may a Sire's affection bless,
And long a Mother's tenderness.
Soft pleasures all conspire to please;
Long may a Sire's affection bless,
And long a Mother's tenderness.
And thou, O Bard whose artless tongue,
The sadly pleasing story sung,
With pride a power of moving own,
No tragick Muse has ever known.
The sadly pleasing story sung,
With pride a power of moving own,
No tragick Muse has ever known.
Compleat is thy success at last;
The throng admir'd in ages past;
Prais'd lately Addison thy lays,
And Nature's self now deigns to praise.
The throng admir'd in ages past;
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And Nature's self now deigns to praise.
| A Miscellany of Poems | |