University of Virginia Library


xxxv

SONNET TO MRS. ROBINSON,

BY JOHN TAYLOR, Esq.

Think not thy numbers Sappho's woes declare,
And all her fervid passion's fond excess,
Though thy rapt Muse's glowing strains express
Of Love's sad victims each romantic care,
Warning weak hearts to shun the roseate snare;
Though Phœbus deigns thy tow'ring flights to bless,
And all his Sons thy nobler pow'rs confess
That o'er their highest aims sublimely dare.
No, Laura, thus pre-eminently taught,
Mellifluous warblings of the heav'nly train,
With poesy's delightful magic fraught,
Yet other notes reveal'd the Lesbian's pain;
For, ah! had Sappho's Muse such accents caught,
The faithless youth she had not lov'd in vain.