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Namely, The English Orator; An Address to Thomas Pennant Sonnets; An Epistle to a College Friend; and The Lock Transformed. With notes on The English Orator. By Mr. Polwhele

Polwhele, Richard (1760-1838)

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ADDRESS to THOMAS PENNANT, Esq.

SONNETS.

SONNET the FIRST. To Laura. Written 1782.

SONNET the SECOND. On being prevented, by a sudden Shower, from meeting Laura. Written 1782.

SONNET the THIRD. To his Wife. Written 1784.

SONNET the FOURTH. To the same. Written 1784.

SONNET the FIFTH. Written at Mamhead, beneath an Evergreen Oak—May, 1785.

SONNET the SIXTH. Written at the Belvidere—Powderham, May, 1785.

10.

11.

12.

13.

SONNET the THIRTEENTH.

14.

SONNET the FOURTEENTH.

17.

SONNET the SEVENTEENTH. To Mr. Pratt, on reading his “Landscapes in Verse.” Written September, 1785.

18.

SONNET the EIGHTEENTH. To the Reverend Mr. Whitaker, Author of the History of Manchester, On his expressing his Approbation of the “Art of Eloquence.” Written November, 1785.

19.

SONNET the NINETEENTH. Presented to Major Drewe, with a Translation of the Military Poems of Tyrtæus.—January 26, 1786.

20.

SONNET the TWENTIETH. To the AUTHOR, on seeing his Plan for a History of Devonshire, 1790.

EPISTLE TO A COLLEGE-FRIEND,

THE LOCK TRANSFORMED.

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SONNET the THIRD. To his Wife. Written 1784.

For thee, whose Love I value more than Life,
Whose Charms the Balm of Heart-felt Bliss inspire—
For thee I reassume my humble Lyre,
Here—in this Shade, far distant from the Strife
Of Scenes, where Fashion's pamper'd Votaries, rife
In Dissipation's Revel, quench thy Fire
O Muse! and blast the hallow'd Name of Wife
'Mid the dark Orgies of impure Desire—
For thee, tho' ne'er my unambitious Strain
May soothe the unfeeling World, I yet awhile
Tune the rude Shell! and haply, not in vain,
If (sweet Reward of every anxious Toil)
My simple Song have still the Power to gain
From Laura, but a fond approving Smile!