Upon my Son's speaking Latin in School to less Advantage than English: Written as from a Schoolfellow. Constantia Grierson (née Crawley) Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T42622 519 p. 45 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. 87-89. xlviii,283,[7]p.; 8⁰.

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Upon my Son's speaking Latin in School to less Advantage than English : Written as from a Schoolfellow . By Mrs. Grierson . Thus twice detected , Con. thy Pride give o'er , And hope to triumph in our School no more . Tho' you speak English Verse with graceful Ease ; Tho' ev'ry Motion , Air , and Accent , please ; Tho' ev'ry Speech a crouded Audience draws ; And ev'ry Line be echo'd with Applause ; Yet now thy undeceiv'd Companions see , The Muse , thy Mother , only speaks in thee . We knew long since , your Verse , so much admir'd , By her superior Genius was inspir'd ; And by your Latin Speech , this Day , you've shown , Your graceful Action too was hers alone . In learned Languages had she been skill'd , Still with your Praises had our School been fill'd . Yet , Youth , repine not at impartial Fate ; Nor mourn those Ills , that must attend the Great . For had she been with meaner Talents born ; Did no uncommon Gifts her Mind adorn ; Had she been moulded like the stupid Race , Whom Culture can't exalt , nor Science grace ; Phoebus had then not study'd to controul The future Grandeur of her soaring Soul . But , when he saw each Muse , with endless Pains , Forming the curious Texture of her Brains ; When he beheld them anxious to inspire A double Portion of celestial Fire ; Grown jealous for the Honour of the Dead , He thus , in Anger , to the Virgins said : " In vain you strive , with such unweary'd Care , " To grace the Breast of this accomplish'd Fair : " In vain ye labour to adorn her Mind " With tuneful Numbers , and with Sense refin'd ; " With ev'ry Elegance of Thought and Phrase : " With Virgil's Purity , and Ovid's Ease ; " Tho' she with them in all their Graces vie ; " Yet I'll their universal Tongue deny . " For if , like them , she could unfold her Mind " In Language understood by all Mankind ; " Their matchless Fame , thro' many Ages won , " ( Her Sex might boast ) would be in one out-done .