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TO DELLA CRUSCA.
1 THOU bidst! — "my purple slumbers fly"
2 Day's radiance pours upon my eye.
3 I wake — I live! the sense o'erpays
4 The trivial griefs of early days.
5 What! tho' the rose-bud on my cheek
6 Hath shed its leaves, which late so sleek,
7 Spoke youth, and joy — and careless thought,
8 By guilt, or fear, or shame un-smote,
9 My blooming soul is yet in youth,
10 Its lively sense attests the truth.
11 O! I can wander yet, and taste
12 The beauties of the flow'ry waste;
13 The nightingale's deep swell can feel,
14 Whilst from my lids the soft drops steal;
15 Rapt! gaze upon the gem-deck'd night,
16 And mark the clear moon's silent flight;
17 Whilst the slow river's crumpled wave
18 Repeats the quiv'ring beams she gave.
19 Nor yet, the pencil strives in vain,
20 To wake upon the canvas plain,
21 All the strong passions of the mind,
22 Or hint the sentiment refin'd;
23 To its sweet magic yet I bow,
24 As when Youth deck'd my polish'd brow.
25 The chisel's feath'ry touch to trace,
26 Thro' the nerv'd form, or soften'd grace,
27 Is lent me still. Still I admire,
28 And kindle at the Poet's fire —
29 My torch, at Della Crusca's light,
30 And distant, follow his superior flight.
31 O Time! since these are left me still,
32 Of lesser thefts e'en take thy fill:
33 Yes, steal the lustre from my eye,
34 And bid the soft Carnation fly;
35 My tresses sprinkle with thy snow,
36 Which boasted once the auburn glow;
37 Warp the slim form that was ador'd
38 By him, so lov'd, my bosom's LORD —
39 But leave me, when all these you steal,
40 The mind to taste, the nerve to feel!
ANNA MATILDA.
About this text
Author: Hannah Cowley (née Parkhouse)
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Source edition
Cowley, Mrs. (Hannah), 1743-1809. The Poetry of Anna Matilda. London: printed by John Bell, British Library, Strand, Bookseller to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. M DCC LXXXVIII., 1788, pp. []-20. [8],139,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T90094; OTA K073164.000) (Page images digitized by University of Minnesota Library.)
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 Hannah Cowley (née Parkhouse)
- ADDRESS TO TWO CANDLES. ()
- THE FUNERAL. ()
- INVOCATION TO HORROR. ()
- INVOCATION. Written on a very hot day, in August 1783. ()
- LINES IN IMITATION OF COWLEY. ()
- THE MAID OF ARRAGON. ()
- A MONOLOGUE. ()
- ODE TO DELLA CRUSCA. ()
- ODE TO INDIFFERENCE. ()
- ON SEEING THE PALETTE OF A CELEBRATED PAINTER. ()
- THE SCOTTISH VILLAGE: OR, PITCAIRNE GREEN. ()
- STANZAS TO DELLA CRUSCA. ()
- A TALE FOR JEALOUSY. ()
- TO DELLA CRUSCA. ()
- To DELLA CRUSCA. ()
- TO DELLA CRUSCA. ()
- TO DELLA CRUSCA. THE PEN. ()
- TO MR. PARKHOUSE, Of TIVERTON, DEVON. ()
- TO REUBEN. ()
- Written by MRS. COWLEY, On Reading the Verses of Lady Manners to Solitude. ()
- WRITTEN THE MORNING AFTER ANNA MATILDA's RETURN FROM A FRIEND's HOUSE, Close on the verge of WINDSOR FOREST. ()