A PRAYER for the YEAR, 1745. Mary Leapor Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T127827 p. 413 K101776.000 Leapor, Mrs. (Mary), 1722-1746. Poems upon several occasions: By Mrs. Leapor of Brackley in Northamptonshire. London printed: and sold by J. Roberts 1748 pp. 69-72. 15,[5],282p. ; 8⁰.

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A PRAYER for the YEAR , 1745. ALMIGHTY Wisdom , at whose Nod The Stars shall cease to shine , Great Nature's Father , Guide , and God , O let me call thee mine . Yet not for me , and me alone , Thy Mercies I implore : No , let that Bliss to all be known , That tremble and adore . Now Fear , that makes the Sorrows flow Ev'n from the Infant's Eyes , O'er-whelms in one promiscuous Woe The Ignorant and Wise . Then hear , O hear , thy Servants cry , We beg thy saving Hand : To whom but Heav'n shou'd we apply , To raise a drooping Land ! Be thou the Guard of helpless Age , The wretched Orphan's Friend : O smooth the Face of hostile Rage , And spare its purple End . Restrain the Hand of threat'ning Pride , Asswage the cruel Breast : Teach Mercy to the Victor Side , And Patience to the rest . And when the Sword of Conquest shall The trembling Wretch arraign , Let Justice guide the equal Scale , Nor swerve the steady Beam . Preserve the merciful and kind From Violence and Pain : And let the meek and gentle Mind Rejoice , and not complain . Nor let the barb'rous Steel invade The Breast of hoary Age : Nor give the unresisting Babe A Prey to purple Rage . Amongst un-number'd Worlds if I Am worth my Maker's Care , Then let me live and let me die Unwounded by Despair . Tho' Want or Peril , Pain or Death , Assault this feeble Clay , Let Hope attend my latest Breath And chear the gloomy Way . Preserve my Parent and my Friend From Danger , Guilt or Shame : In Peace their chearful Days extend To praise thy holy Name . Forgive the Errors of my Youth , If in my Youth I fall : Or teach my Age thy saving Truth , O hear me when I call . Thou mighty Lord of all above And all beneath the Sun , Thy Servant's humble Suit approve ; If not , thy Will be done .