[Page 203]

The FORCE of INNOCENCE. To Miss C—.

BALLAD VI.

I.
1 THE blooming damsel, whose defence
2 Is adamantine innocence,
3 Requires no guardian to attend
4 Her steps, for modesty's her friend:
5 Tho' her fair arms are weak to wield
6 The glitt'ring spear, and massy shield;
7 Yet safe from force and fraud combin'd,
8 She is an Amazon in mind.
[Page 204]
II.
9 With this artillery she goes,
10 Not only 'mongst the harmless beaux:
11 But even unhurt and undismay'd,
12 Views the long sword and fierce cockade.
13 Tho' all a syren as she talks,
14 And all a goddess as she walks,
15 Yet decency each action guides,
16 And wisdom o'er her tongue presides.
III.
17 Place her in Russia's showery plains,
18 Where a perpetual winter reigns,
19 The elements may rave and range,
20 Yet her fix'd mind will never change.
21 Place her, Ambition, in thy tow'rs,
22 'Mongst the more dang'rous golden show'rs,
23 E'en there she'd spurn the venal tribe,
24 And fold her arms against the bribe.
IV.
25 Leave her defenceless and alone,
26 A pris'ner in the torrid zone,
27 The sunshine there might vainly vie
28 With the bright lustre of her eye;
29 But Phoebus' self, with all his fire,
30 Cou'd ne'er one unchaste thought inspire.
31 But virtue's path she'd still pursue,
32 And still, my fair, wou'd copy you.

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Title (in Source Edition): The FORCE of INNOCENCE. To Miss C—. BALLAD VI.
Themes: virtue
Genres: ballad metre

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Smart, Christopher, 1722-1771. Poems on several occasions: By Christopher Smart, A. M. Fellow of Pembroke-Hall, Cambridge. London: printed for the author, by W. Strahan; and sold by J. Newbery, at the Bible and Sun, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard, MDCCLII., 1752, pp. 203-204. [16],230p.,plates; 4⁰. (ESTC T42626; OTA K041581.000) (Page images digitized from microfilm of a copy in the Bodleian Library [2799 d 134].)

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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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