 | Harvest-Home (1805) |  |
TO A LADY,
WHO ASKED THE AUTHOR, WHAT SHE SHOULD DO TO DESERVE THE CHARACTER OF AN INDUSTRIOUS WOMAN?
If, while ten thousand eye-lids close,And half the world are in a doze,
You, more industrious than the Sun,
Half of your morning's work have done;
If, while pale Indolence, in bed,
Complains of nerves and aching head,
An early blessing you impart,
And soothe Misfortune's aching heart;
Patron alike of Want and Grief,
If you have sent the day's relief;
If, while the puny Dames of Fashion
Shiver in furs, yet talk of passion;
Are terrified at evening air;
You, fearless, court the wint'ry sky,
And wind and rain alike defy:
If your warm heart, ne'er chill'd by snow,
With Bounty's genial heat can glow;
The Rich with social rays inspire,
And give the Poor a social fire;
If thus you aid the Griev'd and Poor,
Ere to the Rich you ope the door;
If, at an age when most who live
To such a date, themselves survive;
Feel mind and body both decay,
While you are merry, wise, and gay;
Preserve Good-humour, sterling Sense,
And Wit that scorns to give offence;
If, on so fair and good a plan,
You lengthen thus the mortal Span;
Nor lengthen only, but improve,
While all the minutes cheerly move:—
If thus—by Wisdom's reck'nings clear—
Your day is worth the Idler's year,
Tell me, while you this course pursue,
Who so Industrious as You ?
The lady to whom the above lines are addressed is Mrs. Jeffrys, of Bath, sister to the late celebrated John Wilkes, whose wit, spirit, politeness and affability she inherits. She displays to an innumerable circle of friends all those splendid natural gifts and acquirements, at a very advanced period of life, in a degree almost beyond belief: to which she superadds the effusions of a generous heart, that beats unceasingly to the comfort or accommodation of all who truly know her. Her hour of rising is four in the morning, winter and summer; and without disturbing the repose of the family, she employs herself in a thousand occupations, amusive to her own mind, or useful to a long train of her daily pensioners. She constantly sits and even sleeps with the windows open; and when the rain blows, or the snow drifts into her apartment, she has it removed in the morning. In a word, it is known to innumerable persons, that, whatever be the defect of the verses inscribed to her, they faithfully record a simple fact in every line.
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