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[Page [155]][Page 156][Page 157]
UPON A YOUNG LADY'S BREAKING A LOOKING-GLASS.
1 AS round the room, with tentless speed,
2 Young Delia tripp'd it finely,
3 A looking-glass, so Fate decreed,
4 She broke, but not design'dly.
5 A looking-glass of ancient date,
6 Its fall the belles lamented;
7 But all their sorrow prov'd too late,
8 Its ruin none prevented.
9 When Anne the British sceptre sway'd,
10 'Twas plac'd in firm position;
11 Nor did a forward chamber-maid
12 E'er alter its condition.
13 No mirror better could descry
14 Th' embrio of a pimple;
15 The rheum on a neglected eye;
16 The hoary hair or wrinkle.
17 Long time it did the chimney grace,
18 So awkward now and empty;
19 Its with a vengeance chang'd its place,
20 And broke in pieces twenty.
21 O Delia! mourn thy direful fate,
22 A thousand ills portending!
23 Black omens now thy stars await,
24 'Gainst which there's no defending.
25 Poor Delia now, bedew'd with tears
26 And piti'd by acquaintance,
27 Resolv'd to spend full fifteen years,
28 In doleful, deep repentance.
29 Do tears these lovely cheeks distain,
30 By thousand charms surrounded!
31 These eyes from weeping do refrain;
32 Their glance have many wounded.
33 T' adorn thy more accomplish'd mind,
34 Each radient grace conspires:
35 Hence dread thou not their dark design,
36 Though rage each demon fires.
37 Let hope diffuse a gentle ray,
38 There magic spells defying:
39 Let prudence Delia's footsteps sway,
40 On virtue still relying.
41 But know the rake's alluring smile,
42 The heedless fair bewitches:
43 Let no fond youth your heart beguile,
44 By soft enticing speeches.
45 And if good counsel aught avail,
46 Attend Diana's classes:
47 For mind our sex is ever frail,
48 And brittle as our glasses.
About this text
Author: Janet Little (later Richmond)
Themes:
Genres:
occasional poem
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Little, Janet, 1759-1813. The Poetical Works of Janet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid. Air: Printed by John & Peter Wilson, 1792, pp. [155]-157. (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. ()
- THE ENVIED KISS. ()
- 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 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. ()