Poems

Chapter 36: LINES TO DELIA,

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

A varied collection of lyrical and occasional poems encompassing light social verse, pastoral descriptions, travel pieces gathered from earlier fugitive publication, and personal elegies. Pieces range from tranquil nature scenes and grotto meditations to expressions of romantic longing and formal dedications; a prominent elegy mourns a beloved brother and traces grief and memory. The preface frames the poems as modest divertissements written across youth and maturity, and some material derives from the author's tours. The tone alternates between playful, reflective, and mournful, favoring accessible meters and conventional poetic imagery rather than experimental forms.

LINES TO DELIA,

ON HER WEARING A MUSLIN VEIL.

Say, Delia, why, in muslin shade,
    Ah! say, dost thou conceal those eyes?
Such little stars were never made,
    I’m sure, to shine thro’ misty skies.

Say, are they wrapt in so much shade,
    That they may more successful rise,
Starting from such soft ambuscade,
    To catch and kill us by surprise?

Or, of their various pow’rs afraid,
    Is it in mercy to our sighs,
Lest love, o’er many a heart betray’d,
    Should sob “a faithful vot’ry dies”?

Then, oh! remove the envious shade;
    Let others wear, who want, disguise:
We all had sooner die, sweet maid,
    To see, than live without, those eyes.