[Page 87]

THE ADVICE.

ADDRESSED TO MISS M—— R——, OF BRISTOL.

1 REVOLVING in their destin'd sphere,
2 The hours begin another year
3 As rapidly to fly,
4 Ah! think, Maria, (e'er in grey
5 Those auburn tresses fade away;)
6 So youth and beauty die.
7 Tho' now the captivated throng
8 Adore with flattery and song,
9 And all before you bow;
10 Whilst unattentive to the strain,
11 You hear the humble muse complain,
12 Or wreath your frowning brow
13 Tho' poor Pitholeon's feeble line,
14 In opposition to the nine,
15 Still violates your name:
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16 Tho' tales of passion, meanly told,
17 As dull as Cumberland, as cold
18 Strive to confess a flame.
19 Yet when that bloom, and dancing fire,
20 In silver'd rev'rence shall expire,
21 Ag'd, wrinkl'd, and defac'd:
22 To keep one lover's flame alive,
23 Requires the genius of a Clive,
24 With Walpole's mental taste.
25 Tho' rapture wantons in your air,
26 Tho' beyond simile you're fair;
27 Free, affable, serene:
28 Yet still one attribute divine,
29 Should in your composition shine;
30 Sincerity, I mean.
31 Tho' num'rous swains before you fall;
32 'Tis empty admiration all,
33 'Tis all that you require:
34 How momentary are their chains!
35 Like you, how unsincere the strains
36 Of those, who but admire!
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37 Accept, for once, advice from me,
38 And let the eye of censure see
39 Maria can be true:
40 No more for fools or empty beaux,
41 Heav'ns representatives disclose,
42 Or butterflies pursue.
43 Fly to your worthiest lover's arms,
44 To him resign your swelling charms,
45 And meet his gen'rous breast:
46 Or if Pitholeon suits your taste,
47 His muse with tatter'd fragments grac'd,
48 Shall read your cares to rest.
D.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): THE ADVICE. ADDRESSED TO MISS M—— R——, OF BRISTOL.
Author: Thomas Chatterton
Themes:
Genres: ode; address

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Source edition

Chatterton, Thomas, 1752-1770. Miscellanies in Prose and Verse; by Thomas Chatterton, the supposed author of the poems published under the names of Rowley, Canning, &c. London: printed for Fielding and Walker, Pater-Noster Row, MDCCLXXVIII., 1778, pp. 87-89. xxxii,245,[3]p.,plates; 8⁰. (ESTC T39457; OTA K039720.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Harding C 696 (1)].)

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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.

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