[Page 36]

The DYING KID.

By the Same.
Optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aevi
Prima fugit —
VIRG.
1 A TEAR bedews my Delia's eye,
2 To think yon playful kid must die;
3 From crystal spring, and flowery mead,
4 Must, in his prime of life, recede!
5 Erewhile, in sportive circles round
6 She saw him wheel, and frisk, and bound;
7 From rock to rock pursue his way,
8 And, on the fearful margin, play.
9 Pleas'd on his various freaks to dwell,
10 She saw him climb my rustic cell;
11 Thence eye my lawns with verdure bright,
12 And seem all ravish'd at the sight.
13 She tells with what delight he stood,
14 To trace his features in the flood:
15 Then skip'd aloof with quaint amaze;
16 And then drew near, again to gaze.
17 See tells me, how with eager speed
18 He flew, to hear my vocal reed;
19 And how, with critic face profound,
20 And stedfast ear, devour'd the sound.
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21 His every frolic, light as air,
22 Deserves the gentle Delia's care;
23 And tears bedew her tender eye,
24 To think the playful kid must die. —
25 But knows my Delia, timely wise,
26 How soon this blameless aera flies?
27 While violence and craft succeed;
28 Unfair design, and ruthless deed!
29 Soon would the vine his wounds deplore,
30 And yield her purple gifts no more;
31 Ah soon, eras'd from every grove
32 Were Delia's name, and Strephon's love.
33 No more those bow'rs might Strephon see,
34 Where first he fondly gaz'd on thee;
35 No more those beds of flow'rets find,
36 Which for thy charming brows he twin'd.
37 Each wayward passion soon would tear
38 His bosom, now so void of care;
39 And, when they left his ebbing vein,
40 What, but insipid age, remain?
41 Then mourn not the decrees of fate,
42 That gave his life so short a date;
43 And I will join thy tenderest sighs,
44 To think that youth so swiftly flies!

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): The DYING KID.
Author: William Shenstone
Themes: grief; sadness; melancholy; death
Genres:
References: DMI 27230

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Source edition

Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. V. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 36-37. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.005) (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.

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