[Page 280]

FRAGMENT.

1 SO here confin'd, and but to female Clay,
2 ARDELIA's Soul mistook the rightful Way:
3 Whilst the soft Breeze of Pleasure's tempting Air
4 Made her believe, Felicity was there;
5 And basking in the warmth of early Time,
6 To vain Amusements dedicate her Prime.
7 Ambition next allur'd her tow'ring Eye;
8 For Paradice she heard was plac'd on high,
9 Then thought, the Court with all its glorious Show
10 Was sure above the rest, and Paradice below.
11 There plac'd too soon the flaming Sword appear'd,
12 Remov'd those Pow'rs, whom justly she rever'd,
13 Adher'd too in their Wreck, and in their Ruin shar'd.
14 Now by the Wheels inevitable Round,
15 With them thrown prostrate to the humble Ground,
16 No more she takes (instructed by that Fall)
17 For fix'd, or worth her thought, this rolling Ball:
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18 Tow'rds a more certain Station she aspires,
19 Unshaken by Revolts, and owns no less Desires.
20 But all in vain are Pray'rs, extatick Thoughts,
21 Recover'd Moments, and retracted Faults,
22 Retirement, which the World Moroseness calls,
23 Abandon'd Pleasures in Monastick
Wye Colledge in Kent, formerly a Priory.
Walls:
24 These, but at distance, towards that purpose tend,
25 The lowly Means to an exalted End;
26 Which He must perfect, who allots her Stay,
27 And That, accomplish'd, will direct the way.
28 Pity her restless Cares, and weary Strife,
29 And point some Issue to escaping Life;
30 Which so dismiss'd, no Pen or Human Speech
31 Th' ineffable Recess can ever teach:
32 Th' Expanse, the Light, the Harmony, the Throng,
33 The Bride's Attendance, and the Bridal Song,
34 The numerous Mansions, and th' immortal Tree,
35 No Eye, unpurg'd by Death, must ever see,
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36 Or Waves which through that wond'rous City roll.
37 Rest then content, my too impatient Soul;
38 Observe but here the easie Precepts given,
39 Then wait with chearful hope, till Heaven be known in Heaven.

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Title (in Source Edition): FRAGMENT.
Themes:
Genres: heroic couplet; fragment

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Winchilsea, Anne Kingsmill Finch, Countess of, 1661-1720. Miscellany poems, on several occasions: Written by the Right Honble Anne, Countess of Winchilsea. London: printed for J. B. and sold by Benj. Tooke, William Taylor, and James Round, 1713, pp. 280-282. [8],390p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T94539; Foxon pp. 274-5; OTA K076314.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Buxton 100].)

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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.

Other works by Anne Finch (née Kingsmill), countess of Winchilsea