[Page 139]
In Memory of the Right Hon. NEVIL Lord LOVELACE.
1 In the calm hour, when pleasure most prevails,
2 And smooth prosperity has swell'd your sails,
3 The sportive Muse her humble lyre has strung,
4 To join the triumph with some idle song:
[Page 140]5 And shall she now, when nature smiles no more,
6 When tempests rise, and surges lash the shore,
7 Sit doubtful, and the serious lay refuse?
8 Shall Lovelace sigh, nor sympathize the Muse?
9 In life's mixt scene, where various parts agree
10 To form one tedious Tragi-Comedy,
11 How few, alas! in either part can shine?
12 But both to grace, what forces must combine!
13 In some low scene is Silia deem'd a wit?
14 With patience 'meekest ear attentive sit.
15 In mimic state, and proud fantastic pow'r,
16 Is Fulvia crown'd the Queen of half an hour?
17 The Queen of half an island if she please;
18 The wise have no debates with such as these.
19 But when the rising scenes with anguish swell,
20 'Tis Yours the higher, harder part to tell,
21 And dignify distress by suff'ring well.
22 Whether the Stoic's, or the Christian's part,
23 Found in the head, or working at the heart;
24 Here all the kind affections, touch'd, comply;
25 There rous'd again to study'd apathy.
[Page 141]26 Come, false Philosophy! as proud as vain,
27 Talk well of virtue, talk it o'er again;
28 Deep in the heart true Fortitude's conceal'd,
29 And needs no eloquence to be reveal'd.
30 Yet speak! O tell me! whence this clam of mind?
31 The will obedient, and the wish resign'd;
32 The steady temper, and the look serene,
33 And all a Sister's woe in silence seen?
34 That I may learn, when by misfortune prest,
35 To yeild with meekness, or with strength resist.
36 Brave Youth! with ev'ry virtue crown'd, farewel!
37 How truly lov'd, young*
* Hon. Horace Walpole, Esq;
Walpole's Muse can tell. 38 He to the Tomb has led the weeping Nine,
39 And hung the wreath of friendship o'er the shrine.
40 Not sweeter notes, whom Pope consigns to fame,
41 "Attend the shade of gentle Buckingham."
42 Here the pale Loves, and sick'ning Graces mourn,
43 And there the Sister weeping o'er the Urn:
44 Like some fair pillar nodding o'er it's base,
45 The last remaining ruin of her race;
[Page 142]46 Left but to make their milder virtues known,
47 And fill the radiant circle with her own.
48 Useless the marble, and the mournful crest,
49 No tomb so lovely as a sister's breast;
50 There shall thy mem'ry live, by time improv'd,
51 And she for virtues, once thy own, be lov'd:
52 Not such as make of Kings and Queens a Friend,
53 But such as grac'd thy life, and bless'd thy end;
54 Truth unaffected, Manners void of art,
55 Plain Sense, and strong Benevolence of heart.
56 Oft as she eyes yon bright etherial plain,
57 And burns to follow Thee, and mix again;
58 Some tender friendships, some endearing ties,
59 Cling round her heart, and hold her from the skies.
60 A little while, and these shall all decay,
61 And the free soul emerge to endless day:
62 Where, having long sustain'd the faithful part,
63 The strong attraction seizing all her heart,
64 Her gentler orb shall round it's center move,
65 Re-kindled into Harmony and Love.
About this text
Author: Mary Jones
Themes:
grief; sadness; melancholy; death
Genres:
heroic couplet; elegy
References:
DMI 23706
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Jones, Mary, d. 1778. Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. By Mary Jones. Oxford: Printed; and delivered by Mr. Dodsley in Pall-Mall, Mr. Clements in Oxford, and Mr. Frederick in Bath, MDCCL., 1750, pp. 139-142. vi,[1],xlv,[1],405p. (ESTC T115196) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Harding C 1723].)
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 Mary Jones
- After the Small Pox. ()
- ANOTHER. ()
- ANSWER to a LETTER From the Hon. Miss LOVELACE. ()
- The Author's Silence excus'd. ()
- BIRTH-DAY To the same, on Richmond-Green, Soon after her being Maid of Honour to Queen CAROLINE. ()
- BIRTH-DAY. ()
- BIRTH-DAY. ()
- Consolatory Rhymes to Mrs. East, On the Death of her Canary Bird. ()
- ELEGY, On a favourite DOG, suppos'd to be poison'd. To Miss Molly Clayton. ()
- An EPISTLE to Lady BOWYER. ()
- EPISTLE, from Fern-Hill. To the same. ()
- EPITAPH On a Young NOBLEMAN, Kill'd in an ENGAGEMENT at SEA. ()
- EPITAPH On Brigadier General HILL. ()
- EXTEMPORE. ON A Drawing of the Countess of HERTFORD's, now Duchess of SOMERSET. ()
- The FALL. ()
- From New Lodge to Fern-Hill. In a very rainy Summer Season. ()
- [From the same Opera.] ()
- HEAVEN. To STELLA. ()
- The Heel-piece of her Shoe. (Stella requiring more rhymes, and the Author at a loss for a subject.) ()
- Her EPITAPH. (Which the Author hopes will live as long as she does.) ()
- HOLT WATERS. A Tale. Extracted from the Natural History of Berkshire. ()
- In MEMORY of the Rt. Hon. Lord Aubrey Beauclerk, Who was slain at CARTHAGENA. ()
- The LASS of the HILL. Humbly inscribed to Her Grace the Dutchess of MARLBOROUGH. ()
- LIFE. (Occasion'd by some lines upon Death.) ()
- MATRIMONY. ()
- ODE To the Right Hon. Lady Henry Beauclerk. ()
- Of DESIRE. An Epistle to the Hon. Miss LOVELACE. ()
- On her Bed-Chamber's Chimney Being blown down at St. JAMES's. ()
- On her BIRTH-DAY, Being the 11th of December. ()
- On Her Birth-Day, December 11. ()
- On one of her Eyes. ()
- On the Reasonableness of Her coming to the Oxford Act. ()
- On the Right Honourable Lady Betty Bertie's Birth-Day. Inserted at the Request of Norris Bertie, Esq; ()
- PATIENCE. ()
- RHYMES to the Hon. Miss LOVELACE; now Lady HENRY BEAUCLERK. On her attending Miss CHARLOT CLAYTON In the SMALL-POX. ()
- Rhymes, to Miss Charlot Clayton. ()
- Soliloquy, on an empty Purse. ()
- [SONG from the Opera of ELPIDIA.] ()
- The SPIDER. ()
- The STORY of Jacob and Rachel attempted. To the same. ()
- SUBLIME STRAINS. On the Author's walking to visit Stella, in a windy morning, at Privy Garden. ()
- To Miss CLAYTON. Occasion'd by her breaking an appointment to visit the AUTHOR. ()
- To Mrs. CLAYTON, With a HARE. ()
- To the Prince of ORANGE, On his MARRIAGE. Written at the time of the OXFORD Verses. ()
- To the Same. On her desiring the Author to write a Satire upon her. ()
- To the same. On her parting with the first copy of Heaven, and sending for another. ()
- To the same. Written at Fern-Hill, while dinner was waiting for her. ()
- VERSES TO THE Memory of Miss CLAYTON. ()
- Written at her Apartment in Windsor-Castle. ()
- WRITTEN AT THE Request of a young Divine, TO BE SENT To his MISTRESS, with the Beggar's Opera. ()
- Written in an IVORY BOOK For the Honourable Miss HAMILTON; To be sent to her MAMMA. ()
- Written on some Ivory Leaves. ()