[BIRTHDAY ODE] TO THE SAME, AGED 23, A LIEUTENANT IN THE ARMY, THEN WITH HIS REGIMENT IN CORSICA, 1793. Anne Hunter (née Home) Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
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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. 29-30.

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[ BIRTHDAY ODE ] TO THE SAME , AGED 23 , A LIEUTENANT IN THE ARMY , THEN WITH HIS REGIMENT IN CORSICA , 1793. O THOU so dear ! whose wand'ring star Leaves sad maternal love to mourn , Now chain'd to fierce Bellona's car , Say , does no thought of home return ? Of me , beneath a sky so dark and drear , Where fortune drives the storm , and sorrow clouds the year ? But rising from the stroke of fate , I seize the long neglected lyre ; Warm at my heart new hopes dilate , For thee new wishes they inspire ; The sullen weeds of woe I cast away , And sweep the sounding chords to hail thy natal day . Thy boyish years to manhood brought , Bless'd be the harvest's happy time ! And O , may firm collected thought With judgment mark thy ripen'd prime ! May fair desert , with smiling fortune , crown Thy long succeeding years with honour and renown . If with obscurity to dwell Be mine in unfrequented bow'rs , While fancy tunes her airy shell , While friendship gilds the quiet hours , Content may well her peaceful calm impart , And soft affections still twine round my throbbing heart . While thou , dear object of my care , Must still the busy world explore , May thou its smiles propitious share , Till the gay pageant charms no more ; Then when existence verges to its close , In friendship , filial love , and tranquil hope repose .