ADDRESSED TO MRS. G. OF THE PRIORY, CORNWALL. Anne Hunter (née Home) Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Hunter, Anne Home (Mrs. John), 1742-1821. Poems, by Mrs. John Hunter. London Printed for T. Payne, Mews Gate, by T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street 1802 pp. 13-15.

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ADDRESSED TO MRS. G. OF THE PRIORY , CORNWALL . WHEN the awaken'd soul receives The first impression fancy gives , Temper'd by soft affection's reign , Sweet are the days of pleasing pain . But , ah ! they fly , fly never to return , And leave the aching heart their transient charms to mourn . What magic shall the muse employ Back to recall departed joy ? Alas ! the time returns no more , Nor hope herself can e'er restore Those smiling years when , with fresh roses bound , She led the fairy hours their gay fantastic round . Hope flies with youth , and leaves to age The wintry tempest to engage . The leaves are fallen , the branches torn , On the wild blast behold them born Far distant , while the shatter'd trunk remains Cover'd with hoary frost , amidst deserted plains . ' Vain insects of a summer's day , ' The pow'r of nature seems to say , ' Expect not long unclouded hours ; Soon rushing winds and beating show'rs Your pastimes end ; and fortune , still at strife , Disturbs with ceaseless change the dream of human life . ' Friendship alone remains sublime , She rises o'er the wreck of time ; Unmix'd her purer joys we share , No selfish passion rankles there ; Balm for the wounded heart's corroding woes , Peace to the wearied spirit's final , solemn close . In recollection's pensive hour , When tender thoughts the past restore , Then friendship reunites again : The scatter'd traces which remain Delights each fond remembrance still to save , And plucks the envious weed from lost affection's grave .