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Occasion'd by seeing some Verses written by Mrs. Constantia Grierson, upon the Death of her Son.

1 This mourning Mother can with Ease explore
2 The Arts of Latium, and the Grecian Store:
3 Was early learn'd, nay more, was early wise;
4 And knew the Pride of Science to despise;
5 Left Men to take assuming Airs from thence;
6 And seem'd unconscious of superior Sense.
7 Yet, ah! how vain to guard the Soul, we see,
8 Are the best Precepts of Philosophy!
9 See Nature triumph o'er the boasted Art,
10 Ev'n in a
* See Plutarch's Life of Solou.
Solon's, and Constantia's Heart.
11 See how she mourns her Son's untimely Doom,
12 And pours her Woes o'er the relentless Tomb.
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13 Soften, kind Heav'n, her seeming rigid Fate,
14 With frequent Visions of his blissful State:
15 Oft let the Guardian Angel of her Son
16 Tell her in faithful Dreams, His Task is done;
17 Shew, how he kindly led her lovely Boy
18 To Realms of Peace, and never-fading Joy.
19 Then, for a while, reverse his happy Fate;
20 Shew him still here, still in this wretched State:
21 Shew the false World, seducing him from Truth;
22 And paint the slipp'ry, dang'rous Paths of Youth:
23 Shew him, in riper Years, beset with Snares,
24 Weary'd with struggling thro' unnumber'd Cares:
25 Convey him thence to Life's remotest Stage,
26 To feel the dire Calamities of Age;
27 Oppress'd with Sorrows, with Distempers torn,
28 Or rack'd with Guilt, much harder to be borne.
29 Raise the Distress; and let her darling Care,
30 Distracted in the Horrors of Despair,
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31 The dreadful Scene of Judgment op'ning see,
32 And, trembling, plunge into Eternity.
33 Then ask her, Would she call him down from Bliss,
34 To hazard such a dismal Doom as this?
35 That she may learn to be resign'd from thence,
36 And bless the Guardian Hand, that snatch'd him hence.

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Title (in Source Edition): Occasion'd by seeing some Verses written by Mrs. Constantia Grierson, upon the Death of her Son.
Author: Mary Barber
Themes: parents; children; death
Genres: occasional poem
References: DMI 11348

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Barber, Mary, ca. 1690-1757. Poems on Several Occasions [poems only]. London: Printed for C. Rivington, at the Bible and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1734, pp. 38-40. xlviii,283,[7]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T42622; DMI 519; Foxon p. 45) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Harding C 3644].)

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Other works by Mary Barber