The Child Of Sorrow. Catherine Rebecca Grey, Lady Manners Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
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. T173070 Manners, Catherine Rebecca, Lady, 1766 or 1767-1852. Poems by Lady Manners. Second edition. London John Bell 1793 pp. [64]-70. 126p.

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The Child Of Sorrow . As 'mid romantic Vecta's paths I stray'd , Where clear Medina The name of a river in the Isle of Wight . rolls its silver wave , Beneath a solitary willow's shade , Whose pendent boughs the lucid waters lave , A Child of Sorrow caught my wandering eye ; Loose her attire , dishevell'd was her hair , Pallid her cheek , and oft a bursting sigh Proclaim'd her breast the dwelling of Despair . Yet peerless beauty with unconquer'd sway Resistless shone in her neglected form , As the effulgence of the god of day Gleams through the darkness of the wintry storm . Oft o'er the waves she cast a wistful view , As oft the torrent of her tears did flow ; Then to the shore her streaming eyes withdrew , And in disorder'd words thus spoke her woe : " Dash , dash , ye waves , against the sounding shore , " Your rage no longer can my bosom move ; " Louder , ye winds , and yet still louder roar , " You can no more destroy my only love . " Victim of sorrow from the dawn of life , " I can no more admit new joy or grief ; " Perfidious Fortune , freed from all thy strife , " Even in despair my soul shall find relief . " Touch'd with compassion at these plaintive sounds , Slow I approach'd , and to the Stranger said : " What deep afflictions cause such heart-felt wounds ? " What storms of Fortune bow thy youthful head ? " Could I alleviate ? " — " Never , " she replied , " Can human power my mind from anguish save : " Never , oh ! never can my woes subside , " But 'mid the shadows of the darksome grave . " Yet since soft Pity seems to touch thy heart , " And the big tear stands trembling in thine eye , " The story of my grief I will impart , " Then leave me to my hapless destiny . " Where proud Augusta rears her lofty head , " My childhood pass'd in affluence and ease : " Far from my paths the train of Sorrow fled , " While gay I bask'd in Fortune's brightest blaze . " But short those joys ; for scarce had fifteen years " Taught me my happiness to know and prize , " When swift the splendid vision disappears , " And pale Adversity's dun clouds arise . " Misfortunes unforeseen depriv'd my sire " In little time of his abounding wealth : " To highest views accustom'd to aspire , " He lost his wonted cheerfulness and health . " I saw Despair o'ercast his manly brow , " While silent Grief sat rankling at his breast ; " I saw his head with Disappointment bow , " Till an untimely death restor'd his rest . " Long time I mourn'd — nor did I mourn alone — " A virtuous mother shar'd in all my woe ; " A husband and a father we bemoan , " And for his loss our tears alternate flow . " But Time , whose lenient hand can oft assuage " The sharpest wounds of unrelenting Fate , " Had soften'd by degrees Affliction's rage " To fond Remembrance and Concern sedate . " Together we forsook the venal crowd , " And in this island found a still retreat , " Far from the gay , the thoughtless , and the proud , " For Poverty and Resignation meet . " Contented here we liv'd , nor e'er repin'd " At memory of what we once possess'd ; " But grateful own'd , that the unsullied mind " In its own conscious rectitude is blest . " Hard by our cottage , on a rising ground , " In simple state Ardelio's mansion stood — " Ardelio lov'd by all the country round , " Friend to the poor , the artless , and the good . " Large was his fortune , liberal his heart , " Faultless his manners , undefil'd his mind : " Free from ambition , avarice , or art , " His only study was to serve mankind . " By chance conducted to our lone abode , " He found me friendless , pitied me , and lov'd : " His bounteous hand a quick relief bestow'd , " And soon each trace of indigence remov'd . " The day was fix'd , when at the sacred shrine " Attested Heaven should hear our mutual vows ; " And sprightly Pleasure seem'd once more to twine " Her freshest roses for my favour'd brows . " But , ah ! those roses bloom'd but to decay ; " For , like the bud before the eastern wind , " Their beauties faded immature away , " But fading left a lasting thorn behind . " Oblig'd to leave me for a little space , Presaging tears his fatal absence mourn ; " But the kind youth , my rising grief to chase , " At parting promis'd he would soon return . " Mean time a fever's unremitting rage " Invaded all my parent's trembling frame ; " No remedy its fury can assuage , " Her frantic cries in vain my succour claim . " A thousand times I kiss'd her pallid cheek , " And with my tears bedew'd her burning hand , " While with officious care I vainly seek " Those cures which unavailing Science plann'd . " Clasp'd in these arms she died : no friend was near , " In whom this sad , this breaking heart could trust , " When I beheld her on the sable bier , " And heard the solemn sentence , Dust to dust ! " Frantic with sorrow , to the rocky shore " With an uncertain course my steps I bend : " Unheeded round me the deep thunders roar , " And the blue lightning's lurid flames descend . " Yet one dread object my attention drew : " Near the rude cliffs a vessel I espied , " And heard the clamours of its frighted crew , " Who vainly tried to stem the billowy tide . " For , by the fury of the tempest tost , " Against the rocks its severing planks rebound ; " The floating wreck is driven towards the coast , " With seamen's lifeless bodies scatter'd round . " New anguish seiz'd my grief-devoted mind : " While I survey'd the horrors of the storm , " I thought , perhaps ev'n now , to death consign'd , " Floats 'mid those waves my lov'd Ardelio's form . " Pierc'd with the thought , adown the craggy steep " I hasten to explore the fatal strand : " Just then , emerging from the raging deep , " A breathless corse is thrown upon the sand . " Shuddering I look with half-averted eye — " Ah me , my dread forebodings were too true ! " She paus'd — then utter'd , with a bursting sigh , " Ardelio's torn for ever from my view ! "