[Page [142]]

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.

1 OUR regal seat to Edward fallen a prey,
2 Our Chief's insulted corse his victim lay;
3 Our ruin'd land no monument could raise;
4 Yet grateful bards still sung his heart-felt praise.
5 Long ages hence her hero still she'll mourn;
6 Still her brave sons with emulation burn.
7 His spirit guarding still our native place,
8 Proclaims this mandate to his latest race:
9 "Let sacred truth bid living fame be thine;
10 "Ne'er trust for honour to a sculptur'd shrine.
11 "Those modest merits marbles ne'er impart,
12 "Love writes them deepest on the human heart. "
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13 Thus mid thy race did their lov'd Henry dwell,
14 Whose dust shall mix thy memory with Tell
* A famous Swiss chief
:
15 Truth, honour, spirit animate that form,
16 Which beauty, grace, and symmetry adorn.
17 Here that rich blossom dropp'd, scarce fairly blown;
18 The friend, the husband, father we bemoan!
19 Wail by the grave a mother's cheerless throes,
20 And share a widow's agonizing woes!
21 Dear youth, thy name to latest time descends,
22 Where gentle virtues made mankind thy friends.
23 From no vain marble need you borrow fame;
24 Truth, love and friendship, here embalm thy name.
25 A parent's silver hairs bestrew thy shrine;
26 Her griefs were mortal, but her joys sublime:
27 In tears we mourn the body laid to rest;
28 She hails thy spotless soul 'mid angels blest.

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Title (in Source Edition): 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.
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Genres: occasional poem

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Little, Janet, 1759-1813. The Poetical Works of Janet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid. Air: Printed by John & Peter Wilson, 1792, pp. [142]-143.  (ESTC T126549) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles.)

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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)