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Ode to Despair. From the Novel of Emmeline.
1 THOU spectre of terrific mein,
2 Lord of the hopeless heart and hollow eye,
3 In whose fierce train each form is seen
4 That drives sick Reason to insanity!
5 I woo thee with unusual pray'r,
6 'Grim visag'd, comfortless Despair!'
7 Approach; in me a willing victim find,
8 Who seeks thine iron sway — and calls thee kind!
9 Ah! hide forever from my sight
10 The faithless flatt'rer Hope — whose pencil, gay,
11 Pourtrays some vision of delight,
12 Then bids the fairy tablet fade away;
13 While in dire contrast, to mine eyes
14 Thy phantoms, yet more hideous, rise,
[Page 81]15 And Mem'ry draws, from Pleasure's wither'd flow'r,
16 Corrosives for the heart — of fatal pow'r!
17 I bid the traitor Love, adieu!
18 Who to this fond, believing bosom came,
19 A guest insidious and untrue,
20 With Pity's soothing voice — in Friendship's name;
21 The wounds he gave, nor Time shall cure,
22 Nor Reason teach me to endure:
23 And to that breast mild Patience pleads in vain,
24 Which feels the curse — of meriting its pain.
25 Yet not to me, tremendous pow'r!
26 Thy worst of spirit wounding pangs impart,
27 With which, in dark Conviction's hour,
28 Thou strik'st the guilty, unrepentant heart!
29 But of illusion long the sport,
30 That dreary, tranquil gloom I court,
31 Where my past errors I may still deplore,
32 And dream of long lost Happiness no more!
33 To thee I give this tortur'd breast,
34 Where Hope arises but to foster pain;
35 Ah! lull its agonies to rest!
36 Ah! let me never be deceiv'd again!
37 But callous, in thy deep repose
38 Behold, in long array, the woes.
39 Of the dread future, calm and undismay'd,
40 Till I may claim the Hope — that shall not fade!
Source edition
Smith, Charlotte Turner, 1749-1806. Elegiac sonnets, and other poems. By Charlotte Smith. The first Worcester edition, from the sixth London edition, with additions. Printed at Worcester [Mass.]: by Isaiah Thomas, sold by him in Worcester, and by said Thomas and Andrews in Boston, 1795, pp. 80-82. xix,[2],22-126,[2]p.,[5] leaves of plates: ill.; 15 cm. (12mo) (OTA N22357)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization
of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all
editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic
text originally produced by the TCP project, 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 Charlotte Smith (née Turner)
- Elegy. ()
- [THE EMIGRANTS.] ()
- Origin of Flattery. ()
- Peasant of the Alps. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- Song. ()
- Song. From the French of Cardinal Bernis. ()
- SONNET [01] I. ()
- SONNET [02] II. Written at the Close of Spring. ()
- SONNET [03] III. To a Nightingale. ()
- SONNET [04] IV. To the Moon. ()
- SONNET [05] V. To the South Downs. ()
- SONNET [06] VI. To Hope. ()
- SONNET [07] VII. On the Departure of the Nightingale. ()
- SONNET [08] VIII. To Spring. ()
- SONNET [09] IX. ()
- SONNET [10] X. To Mrs. G***. ()
- SONNET [11] XI. To Sleep. ()
- SONNET [12] XII. Written on the Sea Shore. — October, 1784. ()
- SONNET [13] XIII. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [14] XIV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [15] XV. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [16] XVI. From Petrarch. ()
- SONNET [17] XVII. From the thirteenth Cantata of Metastasio. ()
- SONNET [18] XVIII. To the Earl of Egremont. ()
- SONNET [19] XIX. To Mr. Hayley. On receiving some elegant Lines from him. ()
- SONNET [20] XX. To the Cotentess of A****. Written on the Anniversary of her Marriage. ()
- SONNET [21] XXI. Supposed to be written by Werter. ()
- SONNET [22] XXII. By the same. To Solitude. ()
- SONNET [23] XXIII. By the same. To the North Star. ()
- SONNET [24] XXIV. By the same. ()
- SONNET [25] XXV. By the same. Just before his Death. ()
- SONNET [26] XXVI. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [27] XXVII. ()
- SONNET [28] XXVIII. To Friendship. ()
- SONNET [29] XXIX. To Miss C****. On being desired to attempt writing a Comedy. ()
- SONNET [30] XXX. To the River Arun. ()
- SONNET [31] XXXI. Written on Farm Wood, South Downs, May, 1784. ()
- SONNET [32] XXXII. To Melancholy. Written on the Banks of the Arun, October, 1785. ()
- SONNET [33] XXXIII. To the Naiad of the Arun. ()
- SONNET [34] XXXIV. To a Friend. ()
- SONNET [35] XXXV. To Fortitude. ()
- SONNET [36] XXXVI. ()
- SONNET [37] XXXVII. Sent to the Hon. Mrs. O'Niell, with painted Flowers. ()
- SONNET [38] XXXVIII. From the Novel of Emmeline. ()
- SONNET [39] XXXIX. To Night. From the same. ()
- SONNET [40] XL. From the same. ()
- SONNET [41] XLI. To Tranquillity. ()
- SONNET [42] XLII. Composed during a Walk on the Downs, Nov. 1787. ()
- SONNET [43] XLIII. ()
- SONNET [44] XLIV. Written in the Church Yard at Middleton in Sussex. ()
- SONNET [45] XLV. On leaving a part of Sussex. ()
- SONNET [46] XLVI. Written at Penshurst, in Autumn, 1788. ()
- SONNET [47] XLVII. To Fancy. ()
- SONNET [48] XLVIII. To Mrs. ****. ()
- SONNET [49] XLIX. Supposed to have been written in a Church Yard, over the Grave of a Young Woman of nineteen. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [50] L. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [51] LI. Supposed to have been written in the Hebrides. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [52] LII. The Pilgrim. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [53] LIII. The Laplander. From the Novel of Celestina. ()
- SONNET [54] LIV. The sleeping Woodman. Written in April, 1790. ()
- SONNET [55] LV. The Return of the Nightingale. Written in May, 1791. ()
- SONNET [56] LVI. The Captive escaped in the Wilds of America. Addressed to the Honourable Mrs. O'Neill. ()
- SONNET [57] LVII. To Dependence. ()
- SONNET [58] LVIII. The Glow Worm. ()
- SONNET [59] LIX. Written during a Thunder Storm, September, 1791; in which the Moon was perfectly clear, while the Tempest gathered in various directions near the Earth. ()
- Thirty Eight. Addressed to Mrs. H—y. ()
- Verses. Intended to have been prefixed to the Novel of Emmeline, but these suppressed. ()