[Page 322]

SONNET I.

1 O*, whom virtue makes the worthy heir
2 Of **'s titles, and of *'s estate,
3 Blest in a wife, whose beauty, though so rare,
4 Is the least grace of all that round her wait,
5 While other youths, sprung from the good and great,
6 In devious paths of pleasure seek their bane,
7 Reckless of wisdom's lore, of birth, or state,
8 Meanly debauch'd, or insolently vain;
9 Through Virtue's sacred gate to Honour's fane
10 You and your fair associate ceaseless climb
11 With glorious emulation, sure to gain
12 A meed, shall last beyond the reign of Time:
13 From your example long may Britain see,
14 Degenerate Britain, what the great should be.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): SONNET I.
Author: Thomas Edwards
Themes: virtue; vice; high society; court, the
Genres: sonnet; Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet; panegyric
References: DMI 23516

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Source edition

Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. II. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], p. 322. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.002) (Page images digitized by the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive from a copy in the archive's library.)

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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.