[Poems by Barlow in] Life and Letters of Joel Barlow ... poet, statesman, philosopher |
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[Could youth, could innocence, could virtue save] |
 | [Poems by Barlow in] Life and Letters of Joel Barlow ... |  |
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[Could youth, could innocence, could virtue save]
Could youth, could innocence, could virtue save,Our Charlotte sure had found a later grave.
But, hapless mother, cease: your tears but show
The poor scant measure of our common woe.
Ah! cease that vulgar grief: a tribute find
More just, more worthy her exalted mind.
Resume the virtues that you planted there,
Reclaim that merit none with you can share;
Reclaim her force of thought, her vermeil hue,
Your friends demand her promised life in you.
| [Poems by Barlow in] Life and Letters of Joel Barlow ... | |