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And lose the husband in the lover!
May that fair bosom never know
What 'tis to feel the restless woe,
Which stings the soul, with vain regret,
Of him, who never can forget!" 1806.
[First printed, December, 1806.]

TO LESBIA.1

1.

LESBIA! since far from you I've rang'd, Our souls with fond affection glow not; You say, 'tis I, not you, have chang'd, I'd tell you why, - but yet I know

not.

2.

Your polish'd brow no cares have crost; And Lesbia! we are not much older, Since, trembling, first my heart I lost, Or told my love, with hope grown bolder.

3.

Sixteen was then our utmost age,

Two years have lingering pass'd away, love!

And now new thoughts our minds engage,

At least, I feel dispos'd to stray, love!

4.

'Tis I that am alone to blame,

I, that am guilty of love's treason; Since your sweet breast is still the same, Caprice must be my only reason.

5.

I do not, love! suspect your truth, With jealous doubt my bosom heaves

not;

Warm was the passion of my youth,

One trace of dark deceit it leaves not.

6.

No, no, my flame was not pretended;

For, oh! I lov'd you most sincerely; And though our dream at last is ended

My bosom still esteems you dearly.

1["The lady's name was Julia Leacroft" (Note by Miss E. Pigot).]

7.

No more we meet in yonder bowers; Absence has made me prone to roving But older, firmer hearts than ours Have found monotony in loving.

8.

Your cheek's soft bloom is unimpair'd, New beauties, still, are daily bright

ning,

Your eye, for conquest beams prepar'd, The forge of love's resistless lightning.

9.

Arm'd thus, to make their bosoms bleed, Many will throng, to sigh like me, love!

More constant they may prove, indeed; Fonder, alas! they ne'er can be, lovel

1806.

[First printed, December, 1806.]

TO WOMAN.

WOMAN! experience might have told me That all must love thee, who behold thee:

Surely experience might have taught
Thy firmest promises are nought;
But, plac'd in all thy charms before me,
All I forget, but to adore thee.

Oh memory! thou choicest blessing, When join'd with hope, when still possessing;

But how much curst by every lover
When hope is fled, and passion's over.
Woman, that fair and fond deceiver.
How prompt are striplings to believe her.
How throbs the pulse, when first we view
The eye that rolls in glossy blue,
Or sparkles black, or mildly throws
A beam from under hazel brows!
How quick we credit every oath,
And hear her plight the willing troth!
Fondly we hope 'twill last for aye,
When, lo! she changes in a day.
This record will for ever stand,
"Woman, thy vows are trac'd in sand."

[First printed, December, 1806.]

1 The last line is almost a literal translatio from a Spanish proverb.

[The last line is not "almost a literal trami

AN OCCASIONAL PROLOGUE,

DELIVERED BY THE AUTHOR PREVIOUS
TO THE PERFORMANCE OF
"THE
WHEEL OF FORTUNE" AT A PRIVATE
THEATRE.1

SINCE the refinement of this polish'd age Has swept immoral raillery from the stage:

Since taste has now expung'd licentious wit,

Which stamp'd disgrace on all an author writ;

Since, now, to please with purer scenes we seek,

Nor dare to call the blush from Beauty's cheek;

Oh! let the modest Muse some pity claim,

And meet indulgence

though she find

not fame. Still, not for her alone, we wish respect, Others appear more conscious of defect: To-night no vet'ran Roscii you behold, In all the arts of scenic action old; No COOKE, no KEMBLE, can salute you bere,

No SIDDONS draw the sympathetic tear; To-right you throng to witness the début Of embryo Actors, to the Drama new: Here, then, our almost unfledg'd wings we try;

Clip not our pinions, ere the birds can fy:

Failing in this our first attempt to soar, Drooping, alas! we fall to rise no more.

1don from a Spanish proverb," but an adretion of part of a stanza from the Diana of Je de Montemajor.

[Southey, in his Letters from Spain, 1707, 7.87-91, gives a specimen of the Diana, and ders the lines in question thus

And Love beheld us from his secret stand, And mark'd his triumph, laughing, to behold

me,

To see me trust a writing traced in sand, To see me credit what a woman told me."] ["1 enacted Penruddock, in The Wheel of F. , and Tristram Fickle, in Allingham's Fire of The Weathercock, for three nights, in Ame private theatricals at Southwell, in 1806, wh great applause. The occasional prologue

our volunteer play was also of my composition."- Letters, 1801, v. 455.1

Not one poor trembler, only, fear betrays, Who hopes, yet almost dreads to meet your praise;

But all our Dramatis Personæ wait,
In fond suspense this crisis of their fate.
No venal views our progress can retard,
Your generous plaudits are our sole
reward;

For these, each Hero all his power displays,

Each timid Heroine shrinks before your gaze:

Surely the last will some protection find! None, to the softer sex, can prove unkind:

While Youth and Beauty form the female shield,

The sternest Censor to the fair must yield.

Yet, should our feeble efforts nought avail,

Should, after all, our best endeavours fail; Still, let some mercy in your bosoms live, And, if you can't applaud, at least forgive.

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[First printed, December, 1806.]

TO ELIZA.

I.

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GRANTA. A MEDLEY.

̓Αργυρέαις λόγχαισι μάχου καὶ πάντα κρατήσεις. 1

I.

OH! Could LE SAGE'S' demon's gift
Be realis'd at my desire,

This night my trembling form he'd lift
To place it on St Mary's spire.

2.

Then would, unroof'd, old Granta's halls
Pedantic inmates full display;

Fellows who dream on lawn or stalls,
The price of venal votes to pay.

3.

Then would I view each rival wight,
PETTY and PALMERSTON Survey;
Who canvass there, with all their might,
Against the next elective day.3

4.

Lo! candidates and voters lie

All lull'd in sleep, a goodly number! A race renown'd for piety,

Whose conscience won't disturb their slumber.

5.

Lord H, indeed, may not demur;
Fellows are sage, reflecting men:

They know preferment can occur,
But very seldom, now and then.

6.

They know the Chancellor has got Some pretty livings in disposal:

1["Fight with silver spears" (ie. with bribes), "and thou shalt prevail in all things." Reply of the Pythian Oracle to Philip of Macedon.]

2 The Diable Boiteux of Le Sage, where Asmodeus, the demon, places Don Cleofas on in elevated situation, and unroofs the houses for inspection. [Don Cleofas, clinging to the clock of Asmodeus, is carried through the air to the summit of S. Salvador.]

3 [On the death of Pitt, in January, 1806, Lord Henry Petty beat Lord Palmerston in the con test for the representation of the University Cambridge in Parliament.]

[Probably Lord Henry Petty.]

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