 | The Unhappy Penitent |  |
To the Excellent Mrs. Catherine Trotter
As
when Aurora's graceful Blushes chear,
With gentle beams, the glimering Hemisphere,
Faint are her glances, and her feeble fire,
Compels no saucy Critick to retire;
Her week efforts small Victory can boast,
And her slight Charms but warm us at the most.
With gentle beams, the glimering Hemisphere,
Faint are her glances, and her feeble fire,
Compels no saucy Critick to retire;
Her week efforts small Victory can boast,
And her slight Charms but warm us at the most.
Thus like the Morning Star Orinda rose
A Champion for her Sex, and wisely chose,
Conscious of Female weakness, humble wais
T'insinuate for applause, not storm the Bays.
Next gay Astrea briskly won the Prize,
Yet left a spacious room to Criticise.
A Champion for her Sex, and wisely chose,
Conscious of Female weakness, humble wais
T'insinuate for applause, not storm the Bays.
Next gay Astrea briskly won the Prize,
Yet left a spacious room to Criticise.
But when bright Phæbus gilds the Orb around,
And from Olympus strikes the distant ground,
With rays of glory, whose refulgent light,
Dazle the shallow Opticks of our sight,
By the strong force of excellence alone
The mighty Deity erects his Throne,
And by sublimer faculties is known.
And from Olympus strikes the distant ground,
With rays of glory, whose refulgent light,
Dazle the shallow Opticks of our sight,
By the strong force of excellence alone
The mighty Deity erects his Throne,
And by sublimer faculties is known.
Like him bright Maid thy great Perfections shine,
As awful, as resplendent, as divine;
Like him thy Soul in its Cælestial frame,
Darts forth as pure, as vigorous a flame;
And in the full Meridian you sit,
With Sov'raign pow'r of Beauty, and of Wit;
And as the dimmer Tapers of the Skies,
Vail when the more transcendent God does rise,
So those precedent Lamps withdrew their light
Timely to do thy wond'rous Genius right.
Mirtle and Bays about thy Temples twine,
Plac'd by Apollo, and the Sacred Nine,
And ev'ry Grace, and ev'ry vertue's thine.
By thy judicious Rules the Hero learns
To vanquish Fate, and weild his Conq'ring Arms,
The bashful Virgin to defend her heart,
The prudent Wife to scorn dishonest Art,
The Friend sincerity; temp'rance the Youth,
The Lover Chastity, and Statesman Truth.
Within thy bosom all these Treasures dwell,
Nor can we judge in which you most excell.
So perfect even Envy you controul
Minerva and Diana guard your Soul.
As awful, as resplendent, as divine;
Like him thy Soul in its Cælestial frame,
Darts forth as pure, as vigorous a flame;
And in the full Meridian you sit,
With Sov'raign pow'r of Beauty, and of Wit;
And as the dimmer Tapers of the Skies,
Vail when the more transcendent God does rise,
So those precedent Lamps withdrew their light
Timely to do thy wond'rous Genius right.
Mirtle and Bays about thy Temples twine,
Plac'd by Apollo, and the Sacred Nine,
And ev'ry Grace, and ev'ry vertue's thine.
By thy judicious Rules the Hero learns
To vanquish Fate, and weild his Conq'ring Arms,
The bashful Virgin to defend her heart,
The prudent Wife to scorn dishonest Art,
The Friend sincerity; temp'rance the Youth,
The Lover Chastity, and Statesman Truth.
Within thy bosom all these Treasures dwell,
Nor can we judge in which you most excell.
So perfect even Envy you controul
Minerva and Diana guard your Soul.
Sarah Pierse.
| The Unhappy Penitent | |