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ODE TO PITY.

BY THE SAME.
1 O Thou, the friend of man assign'd,
2 With balmy hands his wounds to bind,
3 And charm his frantic woe:
4 When first Distress, with dagger keen,
5 Broke forth to waste his destin'd scene,
6 His wild unsated foe!
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7 By Pella's
f Euripides.
bard, a magic name,
8 By all the griefs his thought could frame,
9 Receive my humble rite:
10 Long, Pity, let the nations view
11 Thy sky-worn robes of tenderest blue,
12 And eyes of dewy light!
13 But wherefore need I wander wide
14 To old Ilissus' distant side,
15 Deserted stream, and mute?
16 Wild Arun
g A river in Sussex.
too has heard thy strains,
17 And Echo, 'midst my native plains,
18 Been sooth'd by Pity's lute.
19 There first the wren thy myrtles shed
20 On gentlest Otway's infant head,
21 To him thy cell was shown;
22 And while he sung, the female heart,
23 With youth's soft notes unspoil'd by art,
24 Thy turtles mix'd their own.
25 Come, Pity, come, by Fancy's aid,
26 Even now my thoughts, relenting maid,
27 Thy temple's pride design:
28 Its southern site, its truth compleat,
29 Shall raise a wild enthusiast heat
30 In all who view the shrine.
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31 There Picture's toils shall well relate;
32 How chance, or hard involving fate,
33 O'er mortal bliss prevail:
34 The buskin'd Muse shall near her stand,
35 And sighing prompt her tender hand,
36 With each disastrous tale.
37 There let me oft, retir'd by day,
38 In dreams of passion melt away,
39 Allow'd with thee to dwell:
40 There waste the mournful lamp of night,
41 Till, Virgin, thou again delight
42 To hear a British shell!

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): ODE TO PITY.
Author: William Collins
Themes: grief; sadness; melancholy
Genres: ode
References: DMI 31037

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Source edition

Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. II. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 17-19. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1135; OTA K093079.002) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.789].)

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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.