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SLENDER's GHOST.
1 BENEATH a church-yard yew
2 Decay'd and worn with age,
3 At dusk of eve, methought I spy'd
4 Poor Slender's ghost, that whimpering cry'd,
5 O sweet, O sweet Anne Page!
6 Ye gentle bards, give ear!
7 Who talk of amorous rage,
8 Who spoil the lily, rob the rose;
9 Come learn of me to weep your woes:
10 O sweet! O sweet Anne Page!
11 Why should such labour'd strains
12 Your formal Muse engage?
13 I never dreamt of flame or dart,
14 That fir'd my breast, or pierc'd my heart,
15 But sigh'd, O sweet Anne Page!
16 And you, whose love-sick minds
17 No medicine can assuage!
18 Accuse the leech's art no more,
19 But learn of Slender to deplore;
20 O sweet! O sweet Anne Page!
21 And you, whose souls are held,
22 Like linnets, in a cage!
23 Who talk of fetters, links, and chains,
24 Attend, and imitate my strains:
25 O sweet! O sweet Anne Page!
26 And you, who boast or grieve,
27 What horrid wars ye wage!
28 Of wounds receiv'd from many an eye,
29 Yet mean as I do when I sigh
30 O sweet! O sweet Anne Page!
31 Hence every fond conceit
32 Of shepherd, or of sage!
33 'Tis Slender's voice, 'tis Slender's way,
34 Expresses all you have to say —
35 O sweet! O sweet Anne Page!
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About this text
Author: William Shenstone
Themes:
sex; relations between the sexes; supernatural
Genres:
lament; refrain
References:
DMI 27247
Text view / Document view
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. 56-57. 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.)
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 William Shenstone
- ANACREONTIC, 1738. ()
- ANSWER. ()
- A BALLAD. ()
- The Beau to the Virtuosos; alluding to a Proposal for the Publication of a Set of BUTTERFLIES. ()
- CANDOUR. ()
- The CEREMONIAL. ()
- CLOE to LYSANDER. ()
- The DYING KID. ()
- The EVER-GREEN. ()
- The EXTENT of COOKERY. ()
- In a shady Valley, near a running Water. ()
- Inscription near a Sheep-cote. 1745. ()
- An irregular ODE after SICKNESS, 1749. ()
- LYSANDER to CLOE. ()
- NANCY of the VALE. A BALLAD. ()
- ODE to a Young Lady, Somewhat too sollicitous about her Manner of Expression. ()
- ODE to HEALTH, 1730. ()
- ODE to INDOLENCE, 1750. ()
- ODE to MEMORY. 1748. ()
- ODE. Written 1739. ()
- On a ROOT-HOUSE. ()
- On a small Building in the Gothick Taste. ()
- A Pastoral BALLAD, in Four Parts. Written 1743. ()
- The PRICE of an EQUIPAGE. ()
- The Princess ELIZABETH: A Ballad, alluding to a Story recorded of her, when she was a Prisoner at Woodstock, 1554. ()
- The Progress of ADVICE. A common Case. ()
- The Rape of the TRAP, a BALLAD; written at College, 1736. ()
- RURAL ELEGANCE: An ODE to the late Duchess of SOMERSET. Written 1750. ()
- THE SCHOOL-MISTRESS. A POEM, In Imitation of Spenser. ()
- A SIMILE. ()
- SONG I. ()
- SONG II. The LANDSKIP. ()
- SONG III. ()
- SONG IV. The SKY-LARK. ()
- SONG V. ()
- SONG VI. The Attribute of VENUS. ()
- [Song] I. ()
- [Song] II. DAPHNE'S Visit. ()
- [Song] III. The ROSE-BUD. ()
- [Song] IV. Written in a Collection of Bacchanalian Songs. ()
- [Song] V. Imitated from the FRENCH. ()
- To a LADY of QUALITY, Fitting up her LIBRARY, 1738. ()
- To the Memory of an agreeable LADY bury'd in Marriage to a Person undeserving her. ()
- UPON A VISIT to the same in Winter, 1748. ()
- Upon RIDDLES. ()
- VERSES to a FRIEND. ()
- VERSES written towards the close of the Year 1748, to WILLIAM LYTTELTON, Esq; ()
- Written at an INN on a particular Occasion. ()