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[Page 270][Page 271][Page 272][Page 273]
SILVIA and the BEE.
1 AS Silvia in her Garden stray'd,
2 Where each officious Rose,
3 To welcome the approaching Maid,
4 With fairer Beauty glows.
5 Transported from their dewy Beds,
6 The new blown Lilies rise:
7 Gay Tulips wave their shining Heads,
8 To please her brighter Eyes.
9 A Bee that sought the sweetest Flow'r,
10 To this fair Quarter came:
11 Soft humming round the fatal Bow'r,
12 That held the smiling Dame.
13 He search'd the op'ning Buds with Care,
14 And flew from Tree to Tree:
15 But Silvia (finding none so fair)
16 Unwisely fix'd on thee.
17 Her Hand obedient to her Thought,
18 The River did destroy;
19 And the slain Insect dearly bought
20 Its momentary Joy.
21 But now too rash unthinking Maid,
22 Consider what you've done;
23 Perhaps you in the Dust have laid
24 A fair and hopeful Son.
25 Or from his Friends and Senate wise
26 Have swept a valu'd Peer;
27 Whose life, that you so lightly prize,
28 Was to his Country dear,
29 Then, Silvia, cease your Anger now,
30 To this your guiltless Foe;
31 And smooth again that gentle Brow,
32 Where lasting Lilies blow.
33 Soft Cynthio vows when you depart,
34 The Sun withdraws its Ray,
35 That Nature trembles like his Heart,
36 And Storms eclipse the Day.
37 Amintor swears a Morning Sun's
38 Less brilliant than your Eyes;
39 And tho' his Tongue at random runs,
40 You seldom think he lyes.
41 They tell you, those soft Lips may vie
42 With Pinks at op'ning Day;
43 And yet you slew a simple Fly,
44 For proving what they say.
45 Believe me, not a Bud like thee
46 In this fair Garden blows;
47 Then blame no more the erring Bee,
48 Who took you for the Rose.
About this text
Author: Mary Leapor
Themes:
sex; relations between the sexes; animals; women; female character; nature
Genres:
song
References:
DMI 23755
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. 270-273. 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. ()
- 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. ()