[Page 29]

To Eugenia.

1 MEthinks I see the Golden Age agen,
2 Drawn to the Life by your ingenious Pen:
3 Then Kings were Shepherds, and with equal Care
4 'Twixt Men and Sheep, did their Concernments share:
5 There was no need of Rods and Axes then,
6 Crooks rul'd the Sheep, and Virtue rul'd the Men:
7 Then Laws were useless, for they knew no Sin,
8 From Guilt secur'd by Innocence within:
9 No Passion but the noblest, fill'd each Breast,
10 They were too good to entertain the rest:
[Page 30]
11 Love, which is now become an Art, a Trade,
12 It self to them with all its Sweets convey'd;
13 Indulgent Nature their kind Tutress prov'd,
14 And as she taught, without Deceit, they lov'd:
15 Thus did they live; thus they employ'd their Hours;
16 Beneath cool Shades, on Banks of fragrant Flow'rs,
17 They sat and listen'd, while their Poets sung
18 The Praises of the Brave, the Wise, the Young;
19 What e'er was Good, or Great, their Theme they made,
20 To Virtue still a Veneration paid;
21 But Love did in each Song Precedence claim,
22 And in soft Numbers they made known their Flame:
23 Poets by Nature are to Love inclin'd;
24 To them, the Lover's God was ever kind:
25 They still observ'd his Laws, and all their Care
26 Was to win Fame, and to oblige the Fair:
27 But ah! dear Friend, those happy Days are past;
28 Hard Fate! that only what is ill should last!
29 Unhappy we! born in the Dregs of Time,
30 Can ne'er to their vast height of Virtue climb;
31 But lie immers'd in Vice, forsaken quite
32 Of those pure Joys which did their Souls delight:
33 We live disguis'd, nor can each other trust,
34 But only seem obliging, kind and just,
35 To serve our low Designs; by Int'rest sway'd,
36 That pow'rful God by all Mankind obey'd!
37 Nor are those Vices in the Town alone,
38 The Country too does with the Pressure groan:
39 For Innocence (once our peculiar boast)
40 Is now with all her Train of Virtues lost;
41 From hence to the divine Abodes retir'd
42 Here undeserv'd, as well as undesir'd:
43 Yet some imperfect Footsteps still are seen,
44 That future Times may know they once have been:
[Page 31]
45 But oh! how few will tread that sacred way;
46 By Vice, or Humor, most are led astray:
47 Those few who dare be good, must live alone
48 To all Mankind, except themselves, unknown:
49 From a mad World, to some obscure Recess,
50 They must retire, to purchase Happiness:
51 Yet of this wretched Place so well you've writ,
52 That I admire your Goodness and your Wit,
53 And must confess your excellent Design
54 To make it with its native lustre shine:
55 To hide its Faults, and to expose to view
56 Nought but its Beauties, is becoming you.

Text

  • TEI/XML (XML - 219K / ZIP - 17K) / ECPA schema (RNC - 357K / ZIP - 73K)
  • Plain text [excluding paratexts] (TXT - 2.4K / ZIP - 1.5K)

Facsimile (Source Edition)

(Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 j.452].)

Images

PDF

All Images (PDF - 3.4M)

About this text

Title (in Source Edition): To Eugenia.
Author: Lady Mary Chudleigh
Themes:
Genres:

Text view / Document view

Source edition

Chudleigh, Mary Lee, 1656-1710. Poems on several occasions. Together with the Song of the three children paraphras'd. By the Lady Chudleigh. London: Printed by W.B. for Bernard Lintott at the Middle Temple Gate in Fleetstreet, 1703, pp. 29-31. [16],125,[17],73,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T97275) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 j.452].)

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.