[Page 178][Page 179]
THOUGH BACCHUS MAY BOAST.
1 THOUGH Bacchus may boast of his care-killing bowl,
2 And folly in thought-drowning revels delight,
3 Such worship, alas! has no charms for the soul
4 When softer devotions the senses invite.
5 To the arrow of fate, or the canker of care,
6 His potion oblivious a balm may bestow;
7 But to fancy that feeds on the charms of the fair
8 The death of reflection's the birth of all woe.
9 What soul that's possess'd of a dream so divine
10 With riot would bid the sweet vision be gone?
11 For the tear that bedews sensibility's shrine
12 Is a drop of more worth than all Bacchus's tun!
13 The tender excess which enamours the heart
14 To few is imparted, to millions denied;
15 Of those exquisite feelings, that please tho' we smart,
16 Let fools make their jest, for them sages have died.
17 Each change and excess have thro' life been my doom,
18 And well can I speak of its joy and its strife;
19 The bottle affords us a glimpse through the gloom,
20 But Love's the true sunshine that gladdens our life.
21 Come, then, rosy Venus, and spread o'er my sight
22 The magic illusions that ravish the soul!
23 Awake in my breast the soft dream of delight,
24 And drop from thy myrtle one leaf in my bowl!
25 Then deep will I drink of the nectar divine,
26 Nor e'er, jolly god, from thy banquet remove;
27 Each throb of my heart shall accord with the wine
28 That's mellow'd by friendship and sweeten'd by love!
29 And now, my gay comrades, the myrtle and vine
30 Shall united their blessings the choicest impart;
31 Let reason, not riot, the garland entwine β
32 The result must be pleasure and peace to the heart.
Source edition
Blamire, Susanna, 1747-1794. The Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire βThe muse of Cumberland.β 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. 178-179. (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. β 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. ()
- A PETITION TO APRIL. WRITTEN DURING SICKNESS, 1793. ()
- 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. ()
- 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. ()