To a Young Lady on Her Birthday
This tributary verse receive, my fair,
Warm with an ardent lover's fondest prayer,
May this returning day for ever
Thy form more lovely, more adorn'd thy mind;
All pains, all cares, may favouring heaven remove,
All but the sweet solicitudes of love!
May powerful nature join with grateful art,
To point each glance, and force it to the heart!
O then! when conquer'd crowds confess thy sway,
When even proud wealth and prouder wit obey,
My fair, be mindful of the mighty trust,
Alas! 'tis hard for beauty to be just.
Those sovereign charms with strictest care employ;
Nor give the generous pain, the worthless joy;
With his own form acquaint the forward fool,
Shown in the mimic glass of ridicule:
Teach mimic censure her own faults to find,
No more let coquettes to themselves be blind,
So shall Belinda's charms improve mankind.
This was made almost impromptu; in the presence of Mr.
Hector. ~ Routledge.
Samuel Johnson
Другие работы автора
London - in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal
'—-Quis Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat se ' ~ Juv Though grief and fondness in my breast rebel,
Evening Ode
To Stella: Evening now from purple Sheds the grateful gifts she brings; Brilliant drops bedeck the mead,
The Vanity of Wealth
No more thus brooding o'er yon heap, With avarice painful vigils keep: Still unenjoy'd the present store, Still endless sighs are breathed for more
Stella In Mourning
When lately Stella's form The beauties of the gay brocade, The nymphs, who found their power decline, Proclaim'd her not so fair as fine
