Epistle from the late Lord Viscount B—GB—KE to Miss LUCY A—K—NS. Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T131163 K104099.006 Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. VI. London printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley 1763 [1st ed. 1758] pp. 267-268. 6v.: music; 8⁰.

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Epistle from the late Lord Viscount B—GB—KE to Miss LUCY A—K—NS . The late Lord Viscount Bolingbroke's (d. 1751) Epistle is addressed to Miss Lucy Atkins, "[a]n orange girl." (1782) DEAR thoughtless CLARA to my verse attend , Believe for once thy lover and thy friend ; Heaven to each sex has various gifts assign'd , And shewn an equal care of human-kind ; Strength does to man's imperial race belong , To yours that beauty which subdues the strong ; But as our strength when misapply'd , is lost , And what should save , urges our ruin most ; Just so , when beauty prostituted lies , Of bawds the prey , of rakes th' abandon'd prize , Women no more their empire can maintain , Nor hope , vile slaves of lust , by love to reign . Superior charms but make their case the worse , And what should be their blessing , proves their curse . Oh nymph ! that might , reclin'd on Cupid's breast , Like Psyche , sooth the God of love to rest ; Or , if ambition mov'd thee , Jove enthral , Brandish his thunder , and direct its fall ; Survey thyself , contemplate ev'ry grace Of that sweet form , of that angelic face , Then CLARA say , were those delicious charms Meant for lewd brothels , and rude ruffians arms ? No CLARA , no ! that person , and that mind , Were form'd by nature , and by heaven design'd For nobler ends ; to these return , tho' late , Return to these , and so avert thy fate . Think CLARA , think , ( nor will that thought be vain ) Thy slave , thy HARRY , doom'd to drag his chain Of love , ill-treated and abus'd , that he From more inglorious chains might rescue thee . Thy drooping health restor'd ; by his fond care , Once more thy beauty its full lustre wear ; Mov'd by his love , by his example taught , Soon shall thy soul , once more with virtue fraught , With kind and gen'rous truth thy bosom warm , And thy fair mind , like thy fair person , charm . To virtue thus , and to thyself restor'd , By all admir'd , by one alone ador'd , Be to thy HARRY ever kind and true , And live for him , who more than dies for you .