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THE DOVES.
1
1 REAS'NING at every step he treads,
2 Man yet mistakes his way,
3 While meaner things whom instinct leads
4 Are rarely known to stray.
2.
[Page 300]5 One silent eve I wander'd late,
6 And heard the voice of love,
7 The turtle thus address'd her mate,
8 And sooth'd the list'ning dove.
3.
9 Our mutual bond of faith and truth,
10 No time shall disengage,
11 Those blessings of our early youth,
12 Shall cheer our latest age.
4.
13 While innocence without disguise,
14 And constancy sincere,
15 Shall fill the circles of those eyes,
16 And mine can read them there,
5.
17 Those ills that wait on all below,
18 Shall ne'er be felt by me,
19 Or gently felt, and only so,
20 As being shared with thee.
6.
[Page 301]21 When light'nings flash among the trees,
22 Or kites are hov'ring near,
23 I fear lest thee alone they seize,
24 And know no other fear.
7.
25 'Tis then I feel myself a wife,
26 And press thy wedded side,
27 Resolv'd an union form'd for life,
28 Death never shall divide.
8.
29 But oh! if fickle and unchaste
30 (Forgive a transient thought)
31 Thou couldst become unkind at last,
32 And scorn thy present lot,
9.
33 No need of light'nings from on high,
34 Or kites with cruel beak,
35 Denied th' endearments of thine eye
36 This widow'd heart would break.
10.
37 Thus sang the sweet sequester'd bird
38 Soft as the passing wind,
39 And I recorded what I heard,
40 A lesson for mankind.
About this text
Author: William Cowper
Themes:
philosophical enquiry; virtue; vice
Genres:
advice
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Cowper, William, 1731-1800. Poems: by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. London: printed for J. Johnson, 1782, pp. []-301. [4],367,[1]p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T14895; OTA K027775.000) (Page images digitized by the University of California Libraries.)
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 William Cowper
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- A COMPARISON. ()
- CONVERSATION. ()
- THE DIVERTING HISTORY OF JOHN GILPIN, SHEWING HOW HE WENT FARTHER THAN HE INTENDED AND CAME SAFE HOME AGAIN. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO JOSEPH HILL, ESQ. ()
- EXPOSTULATION. ()
- A FABLE. ()
- HEROISM. ()
- HOPE. ()
- HORACE. Book the 2d. ODE the 10th. ()
- HUMAN FRAILTY. ()
- THE LILY AND THE ROSE. ()
- THE LOVE OF THE WORLD REPROVED; OR, HYPOCRISY DETECTED. ()
- THE MODERN PATRIOT. ()
- MUTUAL FORBEARANCE, Necessary to the Happiness of the Married State. ()
- THE NIGHTINGALE AND GLOW-WORM. ()
- ODE TO PEACE. ()
- On a GOLDFINCH starved to Death in his Cage. ()
- On observing some Names of little Note recorded in the BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA. ()
- On the Burning of LORD MANSFIELD'S Library, together with his MSS. by the Mob, in the Month of June, 1780. ()
- On the Promotion of EDWARD THURLOW, Esq. to the Lord High Chancellorship of ENGLAND. ()
- ON THE SAME. ()
- The PINE APPLE and the BEE. ()
- THE POET, THE OYSTER, AND SENSITIVE PLANT. ()
- THE PROGRESS OF ERROR. ()
- A REFLECTION on the foregoing ODE. ()
- REPORT Of an adjudged Case not to be found in any of the Books. ()
- RETIREMENT. ()
- THE SHRUBBERY, Written in a Time of Affliction. ()
- TABLE TALK. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK I. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK II. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK III. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK IV. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK V. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK VI. ()
- TIROCINIUM. ()
- To the REV. MR. NEWTON. An Invitation into the Country. ()
- To the Rev. WILLIAM CAWTHORNE UNWIN. ()
- [Translation] 1. THE GLOW-WORM, ()
- [Translation] 2. THE JACK DAW. ()
- [Translation] 3. THE CRICKET. ()
- [Translation] 4. THE PARROT. ()
- TRUTH. ()
- VERSES, supposed to be written by ALEXANDER SELKIRK, during his solitary Abode in the Island of JUAN FERNANDEZ. ()
- THE WINTER NOSEGAY. ()