[Page 45]

[MORAL SONG] II. Innocent Play.

I.
1 A Broad in the Meadows to see the young Lambs
2 Run sporting about by the Side of their Dams,
3 With Fleeces so clean and so white;
4 Or a Nest of young Doves in a large open Cage,
5 When they play all in Love, without Anger or Rage,
6 How much may we learn from the Sight?
[Page 46]
II.
7 If we had been Ducks, we might dabble in Mud;
8 Or Dogs, we might play till it ended in Blood;
9 So foul and so fierce are their Natures:
10 But Thomas and William, and such pretty Names,
11 Should be cleanly and harmless as Doves, or as Lambs,
12 Those lovely sweet innocent Creatures.
III.
13 Not a Thing that we do, nor a Word that we say,
14 Should hinder another in Jesting or Play;
15 For he's still in earnest that's hurt:
16 How rude are the Boys that throw Pebbles and Mire!
17 There's none but a Madman will fling about Fire,
18 And tell you, "'Tis all but in Sport."

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Title (in Source Edition): [MORAL SONG] II. Innocent Play.
Author: Isaac Watts
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Genres: song

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Source edition

Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748. Divine songs: attempted in easy language for the use of children. By I. Watts, D.D. London: Printed for J. Buckland; J. F. and C. Rivington; T. Longman; W. Fenner; T. Field; and E. and C. Dilly, 1777, pp. 45-46. xii,58,[2]p.; 12⁰. (ESTC T185045; OTA K123515.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Vet. A5 f.3516].)

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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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