[Page 327]

SONNET VI.

1 R**, who well hast judg'd the task too hard,
2 Of this short life throughout the total day
3 To follow glory's false bewitching ray,
4 Through certain toils, uncertain of reward;
5 A prince's service how should we regard;
6 As service still though deck'd in livery gay,
7 Disguis'd with titles, gilded o'er with pay,
8 Specious, yet ill to liberty preferr'd.
9 Bounding thy wishes by the golden mean,
10 Nor weakly bartering happiness for show,
11 Wisely thou'st left the busy bustling scene,
12 Where merit seldom has successful been,
13 In C**'s shades to taste the joys, that flow
14 From calm retirement, and a mind serene.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): SONNET VI.
Themes: retirement
Genres: sonnet; Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet
References: DMI 23544

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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. 327. 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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