[Page 144]
A PETITION TO APRIL.
WRITTEN DURING SICKNESS, 1793.
1 SWEET April! month of all the year
2 That loves to shed the dewy tear,
3 And with a soft but chilly hand
4 The silken leaves of flowers expand;
5 Thy tear-set eye shall I ne'er see
6 Weep o'er a sickly plant like me?
7 Thou art the nurse of infant flowers,
8 The parent of relenting showers;
[Page 145]9 Thy tears and smiles when newly born
10 Hang on the cheek of weeping Morn,
11 While Evening sighs in seeming grief
12 O'er frost-nipp'd bud or bursting leaf.
13 Once Pity held thee in her arms,
14 And, breathing all her gentle charms,
15 Bade thy meek smile o'ertake the tear,
16 And Hope break loose from trembling Fear;
17 Bade clouds that load the breast of Day
18 On melting Twilight weep away;
19 She bade thee, when the breezy Morn
20 Kiss'd the sweet gem that deck'd the thorn,
21 O'er the pale primrose softly pour
22 The nectar of a balmy shower;
23 And is the primrose dear to thee?
24 And wilt thou not give health to me?
25 See how I droop! my strength decays,
26 And life wears out a thousand ways;
27 Supporting friends their cordials give,
28 And wish, and hope, and bid me live;
29 With this short breath it may not be,
30 Unless thou lend'st a sigh to me.
31 O! fan me with a gentler breeze;
32 Invite me forth with busy bees;
33 And bid me trip the dewy lawn
34 Adorn'd with wild flowers newly blown;
35 O! do not sternly bid me try
36 The influence of a milder sky;
37 I know that May can weave her bower,
38 And spot, and paint, a richer flower;
[Page 146]39 Nor is her cheek so wan as thine;
40 Nor is her hand so cold, as mine;
41 Nor bears she thy unconstant mind,
42 But ah! to me she ne'er was kind.
43 To thee I'll rear a mossy throne,
44 And bring the violet yet unblown;
45 Then teach it just to ope its eye,
46 And on thy bosom fondly die;
47 Embalm it in thy tears, and see
48 If thou hast one more left for me.
49 In thy pale noon no roses blow,
50 Nor lilies spread their summer snow;
51 Nor would I wish this time-worn cheek
52 In all the blush of health to break;
53 No; give me ease and cheerful hours,
54 And take away thy fairer flowers;
55 So may the rude gales cease to blow,
56 And every breeze yet milder grow,
57 Till I in slumber softly sleep,
58 Or wake but to grow calm and weep;
59 And o'er thy flowers in pity bend,
60 Like the soft sorrows of a friend.
About this text
Author: Susanna Blamire
Themes:
Genres:
address; occasional poem
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Blamire, Susanna, 1747-1794. The Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire “The muse of Cumberland.” Now for the first time collected by Henry Lonsdale, M.D. with a preface, memoir, and notes by Patrick Maxwell, ... Edinburgh: John Menzies, 61 Princes Street; R. Tyas, London; D. Robertson, Glasgow; and C. Thurnam, Carlisle. MDCCCXLII., 1842, pp. 144-146. (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [42.256].)
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 Susanna Blamire
- 'TWAS WHEN THE SUN SLID DOWN YON HILL. ()
- ADDRESS TO HEALTH. — 1784. ()
- ADDRESS TO MISS J. GALE ON HER MARRIAGE WITH THE REV. F. GRAHAM, RECTOR OF ARTHURET. ()
- THE ADIEU AND RECALL TO LOVE. ()
- AE NIGHT IN DARK DECEMBER. ()
- AGAIN MAUN ABSENCE CHILL MY SOUL. ()
- THE AULD CARLE WAD TAK ME FAIN. ()
- AULD ROBIN FORBES. ()
- BARLEY BROTH. ()
- BEHOLD, MY AMANDA. ()
- THE BOWER OF ELEGANCE. ADDRESSED TO A VERY ACCOMPLISHED WOMAN. ()
- BRIDE-CAKE. ()
- A CALL TO HOPE. 22D MAY, 1792. ()
- A CAUTION TO MISS B. ()
- THE CHELSEA PENSIONERS. ()
- COME, MORTALS, ENLIVEN THE HOUR. ()
- THE CUMBERLAND SCOLD. ()
- A CURE FOR LOVE. ()
- DEAR NANCY. ()
- THE DESCENT OF PITY. 20TH NOVEMBER, 1781. ()
- EDWIN AND ALICIA. A TALE. ()
- AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF MRS DACRE. ()
- EPISTLE TO HER FRIENDS AT GARTMORE. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO MISS ISABELLA GRAHAM OF GARTMORE. ()
- THE FAREWELL TO AFFECTION. ()
- FOR THE CARLISLE HUNT. November, 1788 ()
- HAD MY DADDIE LEFT ME GEAR ENOUGH. ()
- HOPE. ()
- I AM OF A TEMPER FIXED AS A DECREE. ()
- I'LL HAE A NEW COATIE. ()
- I'M TIBBY FOWLER O' THE GLEN. ()
- I'VE GOTTEN A ROCK, I'VE GOTTEN A REEL. ()
- IN THAT EYE WHERE EXPRESSION. ()
- IN THE DREAM OF THE MOMENT. ()
- IN THE SEARCH OF GOOD HUMOUR. ()
- THE INVITATION. TO TWO SISTERS. ()
- LETTERS OF THE LOVERS. ()
- THE LILY OF THE VALLEY, CHOSEN THE EMBLEM OF INNOCENCE. ()
- THE LILY'S TRIUMPH OVER THE ROSE. ()
- THE LOSS OF THE ROEBUCK. ()
- MAY NOT THE LOVE OF PRAISE BE AN INCENTIVE TO VIRTUE? ()
- THE MEETING. ()
- MOONLIGHT. ()
- THE NABOB. ()
- NAY, NAY, CENSOR TIME. ()
- NOW SANDY MAUN AWA. ()
- THE NUN'S RETURN TO THE WORLD, BY THE DECREE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF FRANCE, FEBRUARY, 1790. ()
- O BID ME NOT TO WANDER. Written when earnestly entreated to go to the South of France for the recovery of her health. ()
- O DINNA THINK, MY BONNIE LASS. ()
- O DONALD! YE ARE JUST THE MAN. ()
- O JENNY DEAR, I'VE COURTED LANG. ()
- O JENNY DEAR, THE WORD IS GANE. ()
- O JENNY DEAR. ()
- O THERE IS NOT A SHARPER DART. ()
- O WHERE IS THE SPLENDOUR. ()
- O WHY SHOULD MORTALS SUFFER CARE. ()
- OLD HARRY'S RETURN. ()
- ON COLLINS'S ODE ON THE PASSIONS, AS RECITED BY MRS ESTEN ()
- ON IMAGINED HAPPINESS IN HUMBLE STATIONS. ()
- ON THE DANGEROUS ILLNESS OF MY FRIEND MRS L. 13TH MAY, 1788. ()
- ON THE MARRIAGE OF MISS JOHANNA GALE WITH THE REV. P. GRAHAM, RECTOR OF ARTHURET. 18TH FEBRUARY, 1792. ()
- PITY'S DESCENT TO EARTH, AND ADVICE TO FRIENDSHIP. ()
- THE RECALL TO AFFECTION. ()
- THE SILLER CROUN. ()
- THE SOLDIER'S RETURN. ()
- SPRING. APRIL, 1786. ()
- STOKLEWATH; OR, THE CUMBRIAN VILLAGE. ()
- THOUGH BACCHUS MAY BOAST. ()
- TO A LADY WHO WENT INTO THE COUNTRY IN APRIL. ()
- TO A LADY, WHO FREQUENTLY WITHDREW FROM COMPANY. ()
- TO THE FLOWER LOVE-IN-IDLENESS, AND A PETITION TO THE FAIRIES TO BRING INDIFFERENCE. ()
- TO-MORROW. WRITTEN DURING SICKNESS. ()
- THE TOILING DAY HIS TASK HAS DUIN. ()
- THE WAEFU' HEART. ()
- WE'VE HED SEC A DURDUM. ()
- WEY, NED, MAN! ()
- WHAT AILS THIS HEART O' MINE! ()
- WHEN HOME WE RETURN. ()
- WHEN NIGHT'S DARK MANTLE. ()
- WHEN SEVEREST FOES IMPENDING. ()
- WHEN THE SOFT TEAR STEALS SILENTLY. ()
- WHEN THE SUNBEAMS OF JOY. ()
- WRITTEN IN A CHURCHYARD, ON SEEING A NUMBER OF CATTLE GRAZING IN IT. ()
- WRITTEN ON A GLOOMY DAY, IN SICKNESS. THACKWOOD, 4TH JUNE, 1786. ()