[Page 43]

Written for my Son in his Sickness, to one of his School fellows.

1 I little thought that honest Dick
2 Would slight me so, when I was sick.
3 Is he a Friend, who only stays,
4 Whilst Health and Pleasure gild our Days;
5 Flies, when Disease our Temper sours,
6 Nor helps to pass the gloomy Hours?
7 Says my Mamma, who loves to make
8 Reflections for her Childrens sake;
9 You see how mortal Friendship ends
10 My Child, secure celestial Friends:
11 Make Heav'n your chief, your early Care;
12 You'll meet no Disappointment there.
13 Build not on Length of Days, my Son;
14 Life's longest Race is quickly run.
[Page 44]
15 Lay hold on ev'ry coming Hour;
16 Do all the Good that's in your Pow'r:
17 This will the sinking Heart sustain,
18 When Cordials are dispens'd in vain;
19 Asswage the racking Pains, that seize
20 On Limbs devoted to Disease;
21 The Place of fleeting Friends supply;
22 Pour balmy Slumbers on thine Eye;
23 Shield thee from Terrors of the Night,
24 And wing thy Pray'rs to Realms of Light;
25 Thy ev'ry painful Care dismiss,
26 And crown thee with eternal Bliss.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): Written for my Son in his Sickness, to one of his School fellows.
Author: Mary Barber
Themes: illness; injury; friendship
Genres: complaint
References: DMI 11351

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Source edition

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. 43-44. 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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Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. 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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