REFLECTIONS AFTER VIEWING A SCENE OF DISTRESS. Isabella Kelly (née Fordyce) 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. T122123 Kelly, Isabella, 1759-1857. Collection of Poems and Fables on Several Occasions. London W. Richardson 1794 pp. 51-53. 72p.

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REFLECTIONS AFTER VIEWING A SCENE OF DISTRESS . Teach me , all gracious Power , to be content ! To bless my lot because ordained by thee ; Ne'er mourn for that , thy wisdom hath not lent , But deem it good because thy great decree . Then cease vain heart to mourn the want of power , Just Heaven will view , accept the willing mind ; Will give reward in retribution's hour , To all who felt the ills of human kind . What tho' I can't bestow the wish'd supply , Nor cheer cold poverty's obscure abode ; Ne'er read the language of a grateful eye , Nor guide the helpless penitent to God . I often wish the uninformed to teach , To give to orphan infancy its bread , To soothe the sorrow of declining age , And give that pittance which I yet may need . Be hushed complaint — be never murmured more , Arraign not that great plan to Heaven known ; Perhaps endowed with splendour , wealth and power , The kinder feelings had not been my own . With pleasure circled , proved secure from fear , Perhaps I ne'er had breathed a pitying sigh ; Might never offered others woes a tear , But lived a stranger to each softer tie . Then 'tis in mercy wealth hath been denied , For now — a soul that feels for all is mine , I yet can soothe the ills of suffering worth , And pray the bad their purpose to resign . And I can cheer the modest with applause , Kindly support the weak , the sorrowing mind , Can plead , unblushing , virtue's injured cause , Conceal the failings of my erring kind . The voice attuned to softness may repress The anguished sigh — — relieve the doubting heart , A pitying look will often soften pain , A mite to penury will joy impart . A friendly smile can welcome modest fear , A chearful word beguile the gloom of age ; Hence then despondency — hence discontent , I still have worth which partial friends engage . Yes — these are mine , and these the good approve , Most gracious power ! that all those gifts bestow ; In mercy , still withhold the means of ill , And let me all unto thy mercy owe . Then while on earth I'll thy great name adore , And sink with sweet composure to the dust ! Bless thy past mercies — " humbly hope for more , " From thee my God , protectors , guide and trust .