Poems; original and translated :: :: University of Virginia Library

A present for my daughter May
On her returning natal day.
Tis ask'd, this Album to begin,
That I should put some tribute in:
Then let me first in simple verse
The customary wish rehearse,
That many a birthday she may see
As happy as on earth can be.

Next, (for on this I'd have ye look
As prologue to the little book,)
A word or two upon its use
Were not amiss to introduce.
Let nothing be permitted here
In any fashion to appear,
In print or writing, rhyme or prose,
That doth not to the mind disclose
Or open to the fancy's view
Some glimpses of the just and true.
I do not ask for lofty rhyme,
Inventive power or strains sublime,
Which might exalt an author's name
To pinnacles of worldly fame:
Yet I would have it understood,
Whatever enters must be good,
In moral sound, without offence
To purity and innocence,
A lesson for the virtuous fair,
E'en though a sportive garb it wear.
Such offerings bring ye: none but they
Are worthy of my daughter May.