APPEARANCE AND REALITY. Eliza Day 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. T132359 Daye, Eliza, b. ca. 1734. Poems, on Various Subjects. Liverpool Printed by J. M'Creery 1798 pp. [19]-22. [2],x,[4],258p.; 8°

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APPEARANCE AND REALITY . VIRTUE and prudence once agreed , In Hymen's bands their lives to lead ; Their offspring daughters prov'd to be , Appearance and Reality . In mutual harmony they grew , And equal joy their parents knew ; With looks serene and accent mild , Virtue address'd her eldest child . A parent's heart can only know , The joys that in my bosom glow ; When I behold my first-born care , So more than all my wishes fair . The rose which paints thy beauteous cheek , The snow that whitens o'er thy neck , The gems which sparkle in thine eyes , Fill all my soul with fond surprize , Not only in myself I rest , Appearance joins to make me blest . Thy beauties every heart can warm , And virtue thro' thy means must charm . But oh my daughter ! hear my voice , Thy sister's worth be still thy choice , And boast no charm , whate'er it be , Forgetful of Reality . Her merits to the world display , While she secures thy bounded sway . Prudence his anxious fears confess'd , And thus his fav'rite charge address'd , My darling child ! in thee I find , Thy mother's graces all combin'd , Each feature of her lovely face , With fond delight in thee I trace . But let my daughter now attend , And hear the counsels of her friend . Tho' solid worth be all thy own , Appearance best can make it known . Her varied graces all admire , Appearance every breast can fire , Give her a place within thy heart , And all thy worth she shall impart . Thus hand in hand the sisters went , And fill'd their parents with content . Reality's more solid worth , Appearance studied to set forth . While she secured her sister's claim , And gave Appearance spotless fame . Their tender love soon care beguil'd , Till virtue left her darling child , Appearance then with forward mien , Before her sister still was seen , Unbounded lures around she spread , Nor ever for her sister staid . And such her soft attractive grace , In every heart she found a place ; Not long deceiv'd the wise could be , They found she'd left Reality . And soon the subjects of her reign , Were but the thoughtless and the vain . 'Twas with contempt her sister saw , The servile herd about her draw , And when her father's head was laid , She scorn'd to sue to her for aid , But conscious of her native worth , Without Appearance ventur'd forth . Vainly she seeks to find a friend , Her hidden merits none commend , Without Appearance few would see The merits of Reality . Their error now the sisters find , Experience shows their interest join'd , Virtue and Prudence must delight , To see their offspring still unite .