[BIRTHDAY ODE] TO THE SAME, AGED 15, AT CAMBRIDGE. 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. 26-28.

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[ BIRTHDAY ODE ] TO THE SAME , AGED 15 , AT CAMBRIDGE . NOW twice the spring , with flowrets gay , Hath 'broider'd o'er her mantle green , And twice the merry month of May With hawthorn deck'd the vernal scene , Since I in tuneful numbers hail'd the morn When thou , my heart's dear boy , in happy hour wast born . Nor had I miss'd the annual song , When June return'd with roses crown'd ; But rising sorrow check'd my tongue , And cloudy care hung low'ring round , While in the gloomy shades of threat'ning death I watch'd thy flutt'ring pulse , and fear'd thy parting breath . How exquisite the anxious woe , The agonizing bitter grief , Maternal love alone can know , 'Midst glim'ring hopes of slow relief ; The cruel kindness of the healing art , And those dim joyless smiles which rend the bursting heart ! Dear be those cares , to mem'ry dear , Which sav'd thee from an early grave ; And ever bless'd the genial year , The milder sky , the briny wave , The healthful gale , which fading life restores , Where the smooth swelling tide laves Hampton's happy shores . Nor sav'd in vain : O still pursue The path where truth unerring leads , Where reason early may subdue The wild desires which fancy feeds ; Circean charms , that with a magic force Impel the feeble mind through youth's insensate course . Go on , dear boy , exert each pow'r On time's rich treasures to improve ; And may the slowly ripening hour , Pass'd in the academic grove , Strength to thy mind with ancient lore impart , And judgment firm to guide a warm and feeling heart .