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A PETITION TO APRIL.

WRITTEN DURING SICKNESS, 1793.

1 SWEET April! month of all the year
2 That loves to shed the dewy tear,
3 And with a soft but chilly hand
4 The silken leaves of flowers expand;
5 Thy tear-set eye shall I ne'er see
6 Weep o'er a sickly plant like me?
7 Thou art the nurse of infant flowers,
8 The parent of relenting showers;
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9 Thy tears and smiles when newly born
10 Hang on the cheek of weeping Morn,
11 While Evening sighs in seeming grief
12 O'er frost-nipp'd bud or bursting leaf.
13 Once Pity held thee in her arms,
14 And, breathing all her gentle charms,
15 Bade thy meek smile o'ertake the tear,
16 And Hope break loose from trembling Fear;
17 Bade clouds that load the breast of Day
18 On melting Twilight weep away;
19 She bade thee, when the breezy Morn
20 Kiss'd the sweet gem that deck'd the thorn,
21 O'er the pale primrose softly pour
22 The nectar of a balmy shower;
23 And is the primrose dear to thee?
24 And wilt thou not give health to me?
25 See how I droop! my strength decays,
26 And life wears out a thousand ways;
27 Supporting friends their cordials give,
28 And wish, and hope, and bid me live;
29 With this short breath it may not be,
30 Unless thou lend'st a sigh to me.
31 O! fan me with a gentler breeze;
32 Invite me forth with busy bees;
33 And bid me trip the dewy lawn
34 Adorn'd with wild flowers newly blown;
35 O! do not sternly bid me try
36 The influence of a milder sky;
37 I know that May can weave her bower,
38 And spot, and paint, a richer flower;
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39 Nor is her cheek so wan as thine;
40 Nor is her hand so cold, as mine;
41 Nor bears she thy unconstant mind,
42 But ah! to me she ne'er was kind.
43 To thee I'll rear a mossy throne,
44 And bring the violet yet unblown;
45 Then teach it just to ope its eye,
46 And on thy bosom fondly die;
47 Embalm it in thy tears, and see
48 If thou hast one more left for me.
49 In thy pale noon no roses blow,
50 Nor lilies spread their summer snow;
51 Nor would I wish this time-worn cheek
52 In all the blush of health to break;
53 No; give me ease and cheerful hours,
54 And take away thy fairer flowers;
55 So may the rude gales cease to blow,
56 And every breeze yet milder grow,
57 Till I in slumber softly sleep,
58 Or wake but to grow calm and weep;
59 And o'er thy flowers in pity bend,
60 Like the soft sorrows of a friend.

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Title (in Source Edition): A PETITION TO APRIL. WRITTEN DURING SICKNESS, 1793.
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Genres: address; occasional poem

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Blamire, Susanna, 1747-1794. The Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire “The muse of Cumberland.” Now for the first time collected by Henry Lonsdale, M.D. with a preface, memoir, and notes by Patrick Maxwell, ... Edinburgh: John Menzies, 61 Princes Street; R. Tyas, London; D. Robertson, Glasgow; and C. Thurnam, Carlisle. MDCCCXLII., 1842, pp. 144-146.  (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [42.256].)

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Other works by Susanna Blamire