[Page 131]

The GENIUS in DISGUISE.

1 AS I Fidelia and my Sire,
2 Sat musing o'er a smoky Fire,
3 We heard a Knocking at the Door,
4 Rise, something is the Matter sure.
5 The little Turret seem'd to quake,
6 The Shelves, the Chairs and Tables shake;
7 Fidelia cries, O, what's the Matter?
8 And Mira's Teeth began to chatter:
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9 The frighted Door (as what could choose)
10 Flew open (pray believe the Muse)
11 A hollow Voice for Entrance calls,
12 And soon — Although the dirty Walls
13 Were stain'd with Ignorance and Sin,
14 Yet Mira's Genius ventur'd in,
15 Not in a Cherub's Form enshrin'd,
16 Nor in the shape of human kind:
17 But Locks and Hinges round him glow,
18 In Figure like a neat Buroe;
19 Like Brambles in a thorny Gap
20 Stood Mira's Hair beneath her Cap:
21 Her frighted Senses gone astray,
22 She bent her Knees in act to pray;
23 But the presuming Priest drew near,
24 As void of Piety as Fear,
25 And by its Side undaunted stood,
26 And wou'd persuade us it was Wood:
27 With Rev'rence then we did presume
28 To place him in the little Room;
29 The Priest excluded with the rest,
30 The Stranger Mira thus address'd,
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31 (Tho' shaking with Surprise and Fear)
32 'O say what Power sent thee here,
33 'Not Fortune, for I ne'er cou'd see
34 'As yet her Favours bent on me:
35 'Nor Chance although we often find
36 'She governs most of human kind;
37 'Or can, against the Maid's Desire,
38 'Throw Madam's Caudle in the Fire;
39 'Can light a Candle, or can miss,
40 'She never brought a thing like this.
41 This said, pale Mira gazing stood,
42 And thus reply'd the seeming Wood;
43 'Canst thou behold me and not find
44 'The Picture of the Giver's Mind?
45 'Behold the Lock and shining Key,
46 'That ne'er its Mistress shall betray,
47 'Not blemish'd with a Spot of Rust,
48 'And always faithful to its Trust.
49 'The rest may be to you consign'd,
50 'For in this narrow Space you'll find
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51 'No Emblem large enough to fit
52 'Her Bounty, Judgment, and her Wit.
53 'But, Mira, since I have begun,
54 'The Thread of my Discourse shall run,
55 'Explaining how I am to you
56 'A Monitor and Table too.
57 'My hollow Spaces you may fill
58 'With all your Verses good and ill;
59 'One small one for your Wit may do,
60 'But then your Faults will take up two.
61 'And from the rest I pray exclude
62 'One sacred Place for Gratitude:
63 'And what our Patron yours and mine
64 'Shall to my trusty Care consign,
65 'For those lov'd Strangers I'll secure
66 'The Closet with its tiny Door.
67 'And now I've prattl'd long, my Dear,
68 'Yet you are list'ning still to hear,
69 'Expecting that I shou'd supply
70 'At once Advice and Prophesy;
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71 'But that's not right for me nor you
72 'To dive so deeply — tho', 'tis true,
73 'Without Divining I can see
74 'You'll ne'er deserve the Gift of me:
75 'More wou'd you know — why, may be then
76 'Within these Mornings nine or ten,
77 'Propitious Jet may tsudge before,
78 'And lead his Mistress to your Door;
79 'And when the Sun (whose distant Wheels
80 'But faintly warm the icy Fields)
81 'Shall gild your Cot with brighter Ray,
82 'I hope to see her ev'ry Day.
83 'But turn away thy stedfast Eyes,
84 'That stare so ghastly with Surprise:
85 'Go seek your Pillow and be still,
86 'And dream of me or what you will.
87 'This said (which Mira hop'd was true)
88 'The Lid shut up, and cries Adieu. "
89 Then gave a Crack, and spoke no more,
90 And all was silent as before.

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Title (in Source Edition): The GENIUS in DISGUISE.
Author: Mary Leapor
Themes:
Genres: narrative verse

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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. 131-135. 15,[5],282p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T127827; Foxon p. 413; OTA K101776.000) (Page images digitized from a copy at University of California Libraries.)

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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.

Other works by Mary Leapor