[Page 164]
STEPHON to CELIA.
A modern LOVE-LETTER.
MADAM,
1 I HOPE you'll think it's true,
2 I deeply am in Love with you,
3 When I assure you t'other Day,
4 As I was musing on my way,
5 At thought of you I tumbl'd down
6 Directly in a deadly Swoon:
7 And tho' 'tis true I'm something better,
8 Yet I can hardly spell my Letter:
9 And as the latter you may view,
10 I hope you'll think the former true.
11 You need not wonder at my Flame,
12 For you are not a mortal Dame:
13 I saw you dropping from the Skies;
14 And let dull Idiots swear your Eyes
15 With Love their glowing Breast inspire,
16 I tell you they are Flames of Fire,
[Page 105]17 That scortch my Forehead to a Cinder,
18 And burn my very Heart to Tinder.
19 Your Breast so mighty cold I trow,
20 Is made of nothing else but Snow:
21 Your Hands (no wonder they have Charms)
22 Are made of Iv'ry like your Arms.
23 Your Cheeks that look as if they bled,
24 Are nothing else but Roses red.
25 Your Lips are Coral very bright,
26 Your Teeth — tho' Numbers out of spite,
27 May say they're Bones — yet 'twill appear
28 They're Rows of Pearl exceeding dear.
29 Now, Madam, as the Chat goes round,
30 I hear you have ten thousand Pound:
31 But that I as a Trifle hold,
32 Give me your Person, dem your Gold;
33 Yet for your own Sake 'tis secur'd,
34 I hope — your Houses too ensur'd,
35 I'd have you take a special Care,
36 And of false Mortgages beware;
[Page 106]37 You've Wealth enough 'tis true, but yet
38 You want a Friend to manage it.
39 Now such a Friend you soon might have,
40 By fixing on your humble Slave;
41 Not that I mind a stately House,
42 Or value Mony of a Louse;
43 But your Five hundred Pounds a Year,
44 I wou'd secure it for my Dear:
45 Then smile upon your Slave, that lies
46 Half murder'd by your radiant Eyes;
47 Or else this very Moment dies —
Strephon.
About this text
Author: Mary Leapor
Themes:
love
Genres:
epistle
References:
DMI 23744
Text view / Document view
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. 164-106. 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. ()
- DAVID'S Complaint, ii Samuel, chap. 1. ()
- 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. ()
- 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. ()