[Page [106]]

To a Friend.

Written in M DCC XC.

1 AH, say not, young Shepherdess, I am to blame,
2 When I tell you the swains are untrue;
3 Nor think that each youth is possess'd of a flame
4 Who swears he's devoted to you.
5 The artful Lysander, his love is exprest
6 In accents so winningly sweet,
7 As might tempt the fleet moments delighted to rest
8 Inactive, their pleasure-wing'd feet.
9 Gay Damon will tell you, though splendid the sun,
10 'Tis not half so brilliant as you;
11 And thus in a strain of high compliments run,
12 Perhaps not a syllable true.
[Page 105]
13 Aricius walks stately and proud o'er the plain,
14 In the mirror his image he'll view;
15 But when you appear, even Aricius the vain
16 Enraptur'd kneels captive to you.
17 But, dearest Lamira, may you never prove
18 With humiliation this truth:
19 That interest governs their actions, not love,
20 That your gold has more charms than your youth!
21 In vain lavish Nature had spread o'er your cheek
22 Those roses unsullied by Art;
23 In vain from your eyes sprightly Genius might speak
24 The thoughts that ennoble your heart —
25 Had not Fortune, indulgent, embellish'd each grace
26 With varnish that never can fade;
27 Whose lustre, when wrinkles shall alter your face,
28 Shall throw a new light o'er the shade.
29 Enough of the youths of Arcadia I've told,
30 Nor further intend to advise;
31 Lamira may fancy my censures too bold,
32 But my pen paints the heart, not the eyes.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): To a Friend. Written in M DCC XC.
Author: Catherine Rebecca Grey, Lady Manners
Themes:
Genres: address

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Source edition

Manners, Catherine Rebecca, Lady, 1766 or 1767-1852. Poems by Lady Manners. Second edition. London: John Bell, 1793, pp. [106]-105. 126p. (ESTC T173070)

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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.