[Page 252]
On the Death of a justly admir'd AUTHOR.
1 WHEN pale-ey'd Winter rules the mourning Fields,
2 And shiv'ring Nature to his Sceptre yields,
3 Dejected Earth is strip'd of all her Pride,
4 And sculking Flowers in her Bosom hide;
5 Through naked Groves afflicted Warblers fly,
6 And Storms of Hail come rattling through the Sky:
7 But when soft April lifts her downy Wing,
8 And calls the blushing Infants of the Spring,
[Page 253]9 The verdant Groves their wonted Charms regain,
10 And laughing Nature paints the gaudy Plain;
11 Sweet-scented Vi'lets take their usual Blue,
12 And the fair Primrose drinks the Morning Dew;
13 Again revive their Beauty and their Smell,
14 But Man once blasted takes a long Farewel.
15 Ah silly Muse! thy fond Complaints give o'er,
16 Departed Sylvius shall return no more:
17 No Charms of Verse can win the heav'nly Mind,
18 Back to the slighted Case she left behind;
19 Not tho' each Line shou'd make our Bosoms glow,
20 Like his grand Numbers, and as sweetly flow.
21 His Name shall last to warm a distant Age,
22 Nor want th' Assistance of a Title-page;
23 For his bright Lines are by their Lustre known,
24 Ev'n Homer shines with Beauties not his own:
25 Unpolish'd Souls, like Codrus or like mine,
26 Fill'd with Ideas that but dimly shine,
27 Read o'er the Charms of his instructive Pen,
28 And taste of Raptures never known till then.
[Page 254]29 Ill-nature listen'd, and approv'd the Song;
30 And blushing Envy check'd her burning Tongue:
31 Happy are those, tho' Grief their Hours attend,
32 Whom once he honour'd with the Name of Friend;
33 Whose pleasing Thoughts at least may ponder o'er
34 The smiling Days, that shall return no more:
35 Ev'n we condemn'd at distance to admire,
36 Bewail the Hopes that with our Guide expire:
37 Ah! who shall now our rustick Thoughts refine,
38 And to grave Sense and solid Learning join
39 Wit ever sparkling, and the Sweets of Rhyme?
40 Farewel, ye Themes, which none but he can sing,
41 And sylvan Scenes that wear eternal Spring;
42 Fair Nymphs, that in his fairer Paintings glow,
43 And ye smooth Lines that Sylvius taught to flow:
44 But hush, sad Muse, thy dull Complaint give o'er:
45 Hence sigh in secret, and his Loss deplore,
46 Who ne'er, O ne'er, shall grace our Regious more.
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. 252-254. 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 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. ()