University of Virginia Library


289

SONNET IX.

To the Memory of Mrs. M. Paice.
Peace to thy ashes, to thy memory Fame,
Fair paragon of merit feminine;
In forming whom kind Nature did inshrine
A mind angelic in a faultless frame;
Through every stage of changing life the same,
How did thy bright example ceaseless shine;
And every grace with every virtue join,
To raise the Virgin's and the Matron's name!
In thee Religion, chearful, and serene,
Unsour'd by superstition, spleen, or pride,
Through all the social offices of life,
To shed its genuine influence was seen;
This thy chief ornament, thy surest guide,
This form'd the Daughter, Parent, Friend, and Wife.