[Page 63]
On a FRIEND.
I
1 A gentle soul, a beauteous form,
2 A voice the coldest breast to warm,
3 A heart with love and pity fraught,
4 A mind by ev'ry virtue taught,
5 With matchless truth, and grace divine,
6 O! Corydon, this praise be thine.
[Page 64]II
7 Deign to accept my grateful song,
8 To thee alone these lays belong,
9 Thy worth my trembling pen inspires,
10 Thy eloquence my soul admires,
11 And pleas'd I bend before the shrine,
12 To sing such wond'rous charms as thine.
III
13 Thou pattern to the human race,
14 Thou son of eloquence and grace,
15 To thee all elegance belong,
16 To thee I chaunt the rustic song,
17 Of thee alone my voice I'll raise,
18 And still proclaim my Shepherd's praise.
[Page 65]IV
19 A genius matchless and divine,
20 Ordain'd above all men to shine,
21 A soul unknowing how to feign,
22 A heart unus'd to giving pain,
23 To sing of thee, the task be mine,
24 To praise such matchless charms as thine.
V
25 Ye muses grant me this request,
26 May Corydon be ever bless'd,
27 May peace propitious smile on thee,
28 From every pain and trouble free,
29 And may just heaven for ever shine,
30 Indulgent o'er such worth as thine.
[Page 66]VI
31 Polite and generous to excess,
32 Whose only pleasure is to bless,
33 Whose greatest joy is to impart,
34 Warm comfort to the bleeding heart,
35 Free from base art, or dark design,
36 These virtues, Corydon, are thine.
VII
37 In sense, unequal'd, sound and clear,
38 In friendship steady, and sincere,
39 In actions just, in pity, kind,
40 An angel's form, an angel's mind,
41 Endow'd with every grace divine,
42 O! Corydon, this praise be thine.
[Page 67]VIII
43 In thy fond artless breast I find,
44 There's honor, truth, and courage join'd,
45 A tongue unwilling to offend,
46 Warm to protect an injur'd friend;
47 I mean to sing in simple rhyme,
48 Such worth, O! Corydon, as thine.
IX
49 To tell the world thy wond'rous fame,
50 To celebrate thy heavenly name,
51 To do that justice you demand,
52 From every true impartial hand,
53 That you above each swain may shine,
54 For virtues matchless, and divine.
About this text
Author: Mary Robinson (née Darby)
Themes:
friendship
Genres:
occasional poem
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Robinson, Mary, 1758-1800. Poems by Mrs. Robinson [poems only]. London: Printed for C. Parker, the Upper Part of New Bond-Street, 1775, pp. 63-67. [8],134p.,plate; 8⁰. (ESTC T100118)
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 Robinson (née Darby)
- ANOTHER. ()
- A CHARACTER. ()
- A CHARACTER. ()
- A CHARACTER. ()
- The COMPLAINT. ()
- An EPISTLE to a FRIEND. ()
- HYMN to VIRTUE. ()
- LETTER to a FRIEND on leaving TOWN. ()
- The LINNET'S PETITION. ()
- An ODE to CHARITY. ()
- An ODE to CONTENTMENT. ()
- ODE to SPRING. ()
- ODE to VIRTUE. ()
- An ODE to WISDOM. ()
- On the BIRTH-DAY of a LADY. ()
- On the DEATH of a FRIEND. ()
- On the DEATH of LORD GEORGE LYTTELTON. ()
- A PASTORAL BALLAD. ()
- A PASTORAL ELEGY. ()
- SONG. ()
- SONG. ()
- A SONG. ()
- THOUGHTS on RETIREMENT. ()
- To AURELIA on her GOING ABROAD. ()
- To LOVE: written extempore. ()
- To MATILDA. ()
- The VISION. ()
- The WISH. ()
- WRITTEN EXTEMPORE on the PICTURE of a FRIEND. ()
- Written on the Outside of an HERMITAGE. ()