[Page 72]
DAVID'S Complaint, ii Samuel, chap. 1.
1 MOURN, Judah, mourn beneath the silent Sky,
2 And pierce the Deserts with thy midnight Cry.
3 See Zion, conscious of her failing Powers,
4 Heaves from her Base and shakes the nodding Bowers.
5 For their lost Sires orphan'd Babes complain,
6 And Matrons strike their widow'd Breasts in vain;
7 From Street to Street the howling Mourners fly,
8 Fear on their Brows and Horror in their Eye.
9 For why, her Peers are wash'd with purple Gore:
10 Her Princes and her Monarch is no more:
[Page 73]11 Whom not the sacred Diadem cou'd shield,
12 But serv'd to swell the Horrors of the Field.
13 But why, amongst the Heathen doom'd to fall?
14 Is this, alas, the End of mighty Saul?
15 Mourn, mourn, in Silence lest Philistia hear,
16 Nor let our Foes behold the streaming Tear.
17 But O my Friend — (Ah there my Sorrows swell)
18 Deny'd the Blessing of a sad Farewel?
19 Whose ruddy Cheeks confess'd their early Prime,
20 Nor his smooth Brows had felt the Stroke of Time.
21 He was my Soul's best Pleasure while alive,
22 And is he blasted? — then do I survive?
23 Ah no, 'tis Death and aggravated Woe.
24 O say, my Heart, canst thou sustain the Blow?
25 Ye Nations, mourn — if such a thing cou'd be,
26 Till Nature too shou'd learn to grieve, like me:
27 Ye smiling Dames, your gaudy Robes resign,
28 And suit your Garments and your Griefs to mine.
29 Go, hide your slighted Beauties from the Sun,
30 While down your Cheeks the streaming Sorrows run.
31 Still let your Eye-balls waste their humid Store,
32 And still repeat — Your Monarch is no more!
[Page 74]33 Be thou, Gilboä, wrap'd in endless Night,
34 Nor let thy Hills behold the Beams of Light.
35 Let the gay Sun to thee his Rays deny,
36 While rattling Tempests o'er thy Borders fly.
37 There Judah's Chief lay prostrate on the Ground,
38 And there my Friend receiv'd the mortal Wound.
Source edition
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. 72-74. 15,[5],282p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T127827; Foxon p. 413; OTA K101776.000) (Page images digitized from a copy at University of California Libraries.)
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 Mary Leapor
- ADVICE to MYRTILLO. ()
- The APPARITION. ()
- The BEAUTIES of the SPRING. ()
- CATHARINA's CAVE. ()
- CELADON to MIRA. ()
- The CHARMS of ANTHONY. ()
- COLINETTA. ()
- The CRUCIFIXION and RESURRECTION. An ODE. ()
- The CRUEL PARENT. A DREAM. ()
- DAMON and STREPHON. A Pastoral Complaint. ()
- The DEATH of ABEL. ()
- DORINDA at her Glass. ()
- The ENQUIRY. ()
- An EPISTLE to a LADY. ()
- An EPITAPH. ()
- An EPITAPH. ()
- ESSAY on FRIENDSHIP. ()
- ESSAY on HAPPINESS. ()
- An ESSAY on HOPE. ()
- The FALL of LUCIA. ()
- The FIELDS of MELANCHOLY and CHEARFULNESS. ()
- FLORIMELIA, the First PASTORAL. ()
- FLORIMELIA, the Second PASTORAL. ()
- The FOX and the HEN. A FABLE. ()
- The FRIEND in Disgrace. A DIALOGUE. ()
- The GENIUS in DISGUISE. ()
- The HEAD-ACH. To AURELIA. ()
- An HYMN to the MORNING. ()
- The INSPIR'D QUILL. Occasion'd by a Present of CROW-PENS. ()
- JOB'S CURSE, and his APPEAL. Taken out of Job, Chap. i, and xxxi. ()
- The LIBYAN HUNTER, a FABLE. Inscrib'd to the Memory of a late admir'd Author. ()
- The LINNET and the GOLDFINCH. ()
- MIRA to OCTAVIA. ()
- MIRA's WILL. ()
- The MISTAKEN LOVER. ()
- The MONTH of AUGUST. ()
- The MORAL VISION. ()
- An ODE on MERCY: In Imitation of Part of the 145th Psalm. ()
- On DISCONTENT. To STELLA. ()
- On Mr. POPE's Universal PRAYER. ()
- On SICKNESS. ()
- On the Death of a justly admir'd AUTHOR. ()
- On WINTER. ()
- The PENITENT. Occasion'd by the Author's being asked if she would take Ten Pounds for her Poems. ()
- The POWER of BEAUTY. ()
- A PRAYER for the YEAR, 1745. ()
- The Proclamation of APOLLO. ()
- The PROPOSAL. ()
- PROSERPINE'S RAGOUT. ()
- The QUESTION. Occasion'd by a serious Admonition. ()
- A REQUEST to the DIVINE BEING. ()
- The RIVAL BROTHERS. ()
- The SACRIFICE. An EPISTLE to CELIA. ()
- The SETTING SUN. To SILVIA. ()
- SILVIA and the BEE. ()
- SONG to CLOE, playing on her Spinet. ()
- SOTO. A CHARACTER. ()
- The SOW and the PEACOCK. A FABLE. ()
- STEPHON to CELIA. A modern LOVE-LETTER. ()
- A SUMMER'S WISH. ()
- The TALE of CUSHI. From II. Samuel, Chap. xviii. ()
- The TEMPLE of LOVE. ()
- The TEN-PENNY NAIL. ()
- The Third Chapter of the Wisdom of SOLOMON. From the First to the Sixth Verse. ()
- To a Gentleman with a Manuscript Play. ()
- To ARTEMISIA. Dr. KING's Invitation to BELLVILL: Imitated. ()
- To GRAMMATICUS. ()
- The UNIVERSAL DREAM. ()
- The WAY of the WORLD. ()