[Page 108]
The APPARITION.
1 FROM that inevitable Shore,
2 Wheer Styx's tremendous Waters roar,
3 Thus wing'd with Vengeance lo I fly,
4 And skim beneath the gloomy Sky.
5 To you O false, O faithless Fair,
6 (Yet tremble do — and wildly stare)
[Page 109]7 To you this angry Visit's paid,
8 To you once lov'd, but faithless Maid,
9 Perhaps (too thin for mortal Eyes)
10 You know me not in this Disguise;
11 I ne'er was number'd with your Foes,
12 But what I'm now, shall not disclose
13 My Name (esteem'd by one or two)
14 Was Mira — while I liv'd like you,
15 Till your Unkindness cut the Twine
16 Of Life, before its stated Time.
17 And shou'd you ask to know the End
18 Of her that once you call'd a Friend?
19 Whether of Pleurisies she dy'd,
20 Or in a parching Fever dry'd?
21 Or pale Consumption sure and slow?
22 Or Apoplexy's sudden Blow?
23 'Twas none of these — no common Dart,
24 That struck my unresisting Heart:
25 The dire Distemper you shall hear,
26 Then listen with attentive Ear.
[Page 110]27 Did you not, Ah! did you not say,
28 That you wou'd come the next fair Day
29 To Mira's Dome? — rejoic'd to see
30 At once the Butterflies and me?
31 But now, Alas! (too late, I find)
32 The promis'd Joys of human Kind,
33 Inconstant as the flitting Wind:
34 You came not — That I need not tell.
35 But then, O then your Mira fell,
36 That fatal Day expecting you;
37 I swept my House, and din'd by Two,
38 Took off the Night-Cap from my Brow,
39 (O Pride!) but I repent it now:
40 (Ambitious her I lov'd to please)
41 And, Ah! too straitly lac'd my Stays;
42 Then silent sate 'twixt Hopes and Fears,
43 With beating Heart and list'ning Ears,
44 Till the shrill Clock had sounded four;
45 Then wretched Mira was no more:
46 Her Cheeks put on a death-like Hue,
47 Her Eye-balls bid this World Adieu:
[Page 111]48 And tho' untouch'd by Cupid's Dart,
49 She perish'd with a broken Heart.
50 But I have done — Farewel, for I
51 From this corporeal World must fly:
52 So the relentless Fates decree,
53 Once more Farewel — Remember Me.
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. 108-111. 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 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. ()
- 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. ()