[Page 45]

TO BELINDA.

1 THE wing'd inhabitant of air,
2 Thro' nature freely roves,
3 And his harmonious notes proclaim,
4 'Tis liberty he loves.
5 Till doom'd by some relentless hand,
6 To share a pris'ner's fate,
7 He flutters round his narrow cell,
8 And pecks his iron grate.
[Page 46]
9 Vainly he tries his plaintive notes,
10 And struggles to be free;
11 Till wearied nature bids him yield
12 To sad necessity.
13 Soon in his little cage he finds
14 What nature gave before,
15 And banish'd from his safe retreat,
16 'Twere liberty no more.
17 When thus Belinda you had fixed
18 Gay Strephon in your chains,
19 You doubtless thought your captive swain,
20 A conquest worth your pains.
21 Free as the feather'd songster once,
22 He tells you with a sigh,
23 That life and freedom's in your chains,
24 But death in liberty.

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Title (in Source Edition): TO BELINDA.
Author: Eliza Day
Themes:
Genres: address

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Daye, Eliza, b. ca. 1734. Poems, on Various Subjects. Liverpool: Printed by J. M'Creery, 1798, pp. 45-46. [2],x,[4],258p.; 8° (ESTC T132359) (Page images digitized by University of California Libraries.)

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