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[Page 120]
ABSENCE.
1 When Collin's tuneful pipe with soft'ning strains,
2 Fill'd with melodious sounds the neighb'ring plains;
3 The nightingale responsive, in the grove
4 Sung her sweet lay, and tun'd my heart to love:
5 But absent now from all that's to me dear,
6 A charm in Music I no longer hear.
7 Where are the joys the early seasons bring?
8 For herds the grass, for bees the flowers spring;
9 The black-birds sing on ev'ry blooming thorn,
10 And fresh'ning daisies ev'ry vale adorn:
11 In vain the spring for me adorns the plains,
12 While in my heart so cold a winter reigns.
13 The herds in Summer seek the cooling streams,
14 Where shady trees exclude the sultry beams;
15 The shepherds to some op'ning glade repair,
16 Where gentle breezes temperate the air:
17 But no cool breeze can fan my flame away,
18 Nor cooler streams the latent fire allay.
19 Rich Autumn now adds profit to delight,
20 And rip'ning apples ev'ry hand invite;
[Page 121]21 Each swain divides his apple with his fair,
22 So I with Collin once was wont to share:
23 But now no fruits to please my taste have pow'r,
24 Not gather'd by his hand, all fruits are four.
25 Winter a-while each growing herb restrains,
26 And locks all nature in his icy chains;
27 His reign but for a season doth endure,
28 Spring smiles, and nature feels the pow'rful cure:
29 But ah! my heart's in faster fetters bound,
30 Which still grow stronger as the years go round.
Source edition
Hands, Elizabeth, 1746-1815. The death of Amnon. A poem. With an appendix: containing pastorals, and other poetical pieces. By Elizabeth Hands. [Coventry]: Printed for the author, by N. Rollason, Coventry, M,DCCLXXXIX., 1789, pp. 120-121. [40],127,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T141063) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Dunston B 961 (1)].)
Editorial principles
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.
Other works by Elizabeth Hands (née Herbert)
- ABSENCE AND DEATH. A PASTORAL. ()
- CONTENTMENT. ()
- CORINNA TO LYCIDAS. ()
- CRITICAL FRAGMENTS, ON SOME OF THE ENGLISH POETS. ()
- THE DEATH OF AMNON. A POEM. ()
- An ELEGY. ()
- An ENIGMA. ()
- An EPISTLE. ()
- The FAVOURITE SWAIN. ()
- FRIENDSHIP. An ODE. ()
- LEANDER AND BELINDA. A TALE. ()
- LOB's COURTSHIP. ()
- LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP. A PASTORAL. ()
- OBSERVATION ON THE WORKS of NATURE. ()
- OBSERVATION, On an EVENING. ()
- OBSERVATION. ()
- On a WEDDING. ()
- On an UNSOCIABLE FAMILY. ()
- On CONTEMPLATIVE EASE. ()
- On reading Pope's Eloiza to Abelard. ()
- On the Author's LYING-IN, AUGUST, 1785. ()
- A PASTORAL DIALOGUE. ()
- A PASTORAL SONG. ()
- A PASTORAL. [As Thirsis and Daphne, upon the new hay] ()
- A PASTORAL. [Young Corydon, a blithesome swain] ()
- A PASTORAL. [Young Damon gay, a faithful-hearted swain] ()
- PERPLEXITY. A POEM. ()
- PHILLIS TO DAMON. A SONG. ()
- A POEM, On the Supposition of an Advertisement appearing in a Morning Paper, of the Publication of a Volume of Poem, by a Servant Maid. ()
- A POEM, On the Supposition of the Book having been published and read. ()
- REFLECTION on MEDITATION. ()
- REFLECTION. ()
- The RURAL MAID in LONDON, To her FRIEND in the COUNTRY. An EPISTLE. ()
- A SONG. [Far from the woods, alas, I rove] ()
- A SONG. [When Chloe, smiling, gave consent] ()
- A SONG. [Ye swains cease to flatter, our hearts to obtain] ()
- THIRSIS AND DAPHNE. A POEM. ()
- To THIRSIS, On his signifying his intention to lay aside his Hautboy. ()
- The WIDOWER's COURTSHIP. ()
- WIT AND BEAUTY. A PASTORAL. ()
- Written on Their MAJESTIES coming to Kew. ()
- Written while the Author sat on a COOK of HAY. ()
- Written, originally extempore, on seeing a Mad HEIFER run through the Village where the Author lives. ()