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A YOUNG LADY'S LAMENTATION
FOR THE LOSS OF HER SISTER BY MARRIAGE.
1 WHAT tongue can half my woes express?
2 What force of eloquence can tell?
3 The causes of my deep distress
4 Are such as ever seem to swell.
5 My parents not ignoble were;
6 My father once a merchant fam'd;
7 But now in a superior sphere,
8 'Mongst landed gentlemen he's nam'd.
9 My mother of no mean extract:
10 The famous Freyburgh gave her birth;
11 With wit and prudence still she'll act;
12 None more accomplished on earth.
13 My brethren all for valour fam'd,
14 Their merit great, what pen can show;
15 Their praise has been by fame proclaim'd,
16 While justly in esteem they grow.
17 I had one only sister dear;
18 Our parents' joy and pride were we;
19 Our charms attractive did appear
20 To men of high and low degree:
21 Who often times, in soft address,
22 Did strive our favour to obtain,
23 While we of fortitude possess'd,
24 Refus'd their offers with disdain.
25 They vow'd we would their ruin prove,
26 Persisting in our cruelty;
27 But we were wont to laugh at love,
28 And little Cupid's darts defy.
29 We ever arm'd were cap-a-pee;
30 Indiff'rence was our favourite shield;
31 But by some fatal destiny,
32 My sister languish'd in the field.
33 Depriv'd of all defensive arms,
34 (I sigh, my tears begin to flow)
35 And slain by a sea captain's charms,
36 She married was a month ago.
37 In an unlucky moment he,
38 From Plutus sure had learn'd the art,
39 Made his empoison'd arrows flee,
40 Till one of them did pierce her heart.
41 She did not wish to find relief,
42 But an ignoble victim fell,
43 Which fill'd our parents' hearts with grief;
44 Their sorrows great what tongue can tell?
45 The balsam of advice was brought,
46 With drops of strict authority;
47 Prescriptions still to shun she sought,
48 Nor would the medicines apply.
49 With water of forgetfulness,
50 She oft was bid to bathe the wound:
51 The search was vain, she did protest
52 This water never could be found.
53 It griev'd us much thus to behold
54 Our counsels slighted with disdain:
55 His feather'd darts were tipp'd with gold,
56 Which render'd every effort vain.
57 But conscious that our parents dear
58 Could not behold the fatal blow,
59 To make the stroke seem less severe,
60 She at a distance met the foe.
61 Her peerless charms she there resign'd,
62 CompelI'd by love's supreme command;
63 A clown by travels much refin'd
64 Did eager clasp her beauteous hand.
65 I will lament a sister lost.
66 Ah! ladies hear my piteous moan,
67 Depriv'd of what I once could boast,
68 I now must keep the field alone.
69 What though I no assistance have,
70 I hope to act courag'ously,
71 The subtle foe still to outbrave,
72 And man's seducing arts defy.
73 The rich, the poor, the proud, the slave,
74 The fop, the clown, the low, the tall,
75 The gay, the giddy, or the grave,
76 I scornfully defy them all.
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About this text
Author: Janet Little (later Richmond)
Themes:
Genres:
lament
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Source edition
Little, Janet, 1759-1813. The Poetical Works of Janet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid. Air: Printed by John & Peter Wilson, 1792, pp. [197]-201. (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)
- 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 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. ()
- THE YOUNG MAN'S RESOLUTION. ()