[Page 98][Page 99]
THE ENVIED KISS.
1 AND was it thine to share the bliss,
2 For which so many sigh in vain?
3 And did thy lips receive a kiss
4 From James that honest-hearted swain?
5 Oft has Belinda tri'd her art,
6 In this her radiant charms did fail;
7 Oft Sylvia sought to touch his heart,
8 But could not in the least prevail.
9 Oft Chloe sung in tender strain,
10 Calista danc'd upon the green;
11 But James in haste tripp'd o'er the plain,
12 And seem'd as though he had not seen.
13 Ulysses-like, he did defy
14 The Syren's most enchanting voice;
15 In vain Matilda's sparkling eye
16 Did labour hard to fix his choice.
17 Thou little, happy, smiling fair,
18 And didst thou then the victor prove?
19 Is James now caught in Cupid's snare,
20 And taught by thee to kiss and love?
21 If in thy early infant state,
22 Thou mak'st such stubborn hearts to yield,
23 What conquests do thy charms await,
24 When ripen'd beauties grace the field?
25 Does baleful Envy rear its crest,
26 For this one favour now obtain'd?
27 Sure rage will swell each female breast,
28 When o'er mankind thy empire's gain'd.
29 Then gentle charmer pity have,
30 Nor sigh for conquests ever new:
31 In haste some fond Amyntor save,
32 And let us hear no more of you.
Source edition
Little, Janet, 1759-1813. The Poetical Works of Janet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid. Air: Printed by John & Peter Wilson, 1792, pp. 98-99. (ESTC T126549) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles.)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Janet Little (later Richmond)
- AN ACROSTIC UPON A YOUNG WOMAN, WRITTEN BY HER LOVER. ()
- ALCANZAR. ()
- ALMEDA AND FLAVIA. ()
- AMANDA: AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF MRS. —, PERSONATING HER HUSBAND. ()
- ANOTHER EPISTLE TO NELL. ()
- THE CAPTIVATED SOLDIER. ()
- CELIA AND HER LOOKING GLASS. ()
- COLIN AND ALEXIS. ()
- DAMON AND PHILANDER. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO A LADY. November, 1789. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO MR. ROBERT BURNS. ()
- EPISTLE TO NELL, WROTE FROM LOUDOUN CASTLE. ()
- AN EXTEMPORARY ACROSTIC. ()
- THE FICKLE PAIR. ()
- FROM ALONZO TO DELIA. ()
- FROM DELIA TO ALONZO. ()
- FROM DELIA TO ALONZO. WHO HAD SENT HER A SLIGHTING EPISTLE. ()
- FROM FLAVIA TO CARLOS. ()
- FROM PHILANDER TO EUMENES. ()
- FROM SNIPE, A FAVOURITE DOG, TO HIS MASTER. May, 1791. ()
- GIVEN TO A LADY WHO ASKED ME TO WRITE A POEM. ()
- LOTHARIO. ()
- THE LOTTERY TICKET. ()
- LUCINA: AN ELEGY. ()
- THE MONTH'S LOVE. ()
- NELL'S ANSWER. ()
- ON A GENTLEMAN'S PROPOSING TO TRAVEL 300 MILES TO SEE J—. H—. ESQ.'S CHILD. ()
- ON A VISIT TO MR. BURNS. ()
- ON AN UNLOOKED-FOR SEPARATION FROM A FRIEND. ()
- ON HALLOWEEN. ()
- ON HAPPINESS. ()
- ON READING LADY MARY MONTAGUE AND MRS. ROWE'S LETTERS. ()
- ON SEEING MR. — BAKING CAKES. ()
- ON THE BIRTH OF J—. H—. ESQ.'S SON. NOVEMBER 15, 1790. ()
- ON THE DEATH OF J—. H—. ESQ. JUNE, 1790. ()
- ON THE SPRING. ()
- A POEM ON CONTENTMENT. INSCRIBED TO JANET NICOL, A POOR OLD WANDERING WOMAN, WHO LIVES BY THE WALL AT LOUDOUN AND USED SOMETIMES TO BE VISITED BY THE COUNTESS. ()
- THE RIVAL SWAINS. ()
- SYLVIA AND ARMEDA. ()
- TO A LADY WHO SENT THE AUTHOR SOME PAPER WITH A READING OF SILLAR'S POEMS. ()
- TO A LADY, A PATRONESS OF THE MUSES, ON HER RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS. ()
- TO A YOUNG MAN UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH FOR FORGERY. FROM HIS MISTRESS. ()
- TO HOPE. ()
- TO MY AUNTY. ()
- TO NELL WHEN AT MOFFAT WELL. ()
- TO THE COUNTESS OF LOUDOUN. ()
- TO THE PUBLIC. ()
- THE UNFORTUNATE RAMBLER. ()
- UPON A YOUNG LADY'S BREAKING A LOOKING-GLASS. ()
- UPON A YOUNG LADY'S LEAVING LOUDOUN CASTLE. ()
- VERSES WRITTEN ON A FOREIGNER'S VISITING THE GRAVE OF A SWISS GENTLEMAN, BURIED AMONG THE DESCENDENTS OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, GUARDIAN OF SCOTLAND IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. ()
- WILLIAM AND MARY. ()
- WRITTEN JANUARY FIRST, 1792. ()
- A YOUNG LADY'S LAMENTATION FOR THE LOSS OF HER SISTER BY MARRIAGE. ()
- THE YOUNG MAN'S RESOLUTION. ()