Poems

Chapter 68: VERSES TO MISS M. G——,

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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.

VERSES TO MISS M. G——,

ACCOMPANIED WITH A DRIED HELIOTROPE,

Which she had presented to the Author a Year before.

Time, since thou gav’st this flow’r to me,
    Has often turn’d his glass of sand;
Perchance ’tis now unknown to thee
    That once its breath perfum’d thy hand.

Oh, lovely maid! that thou may’st see
    How much thy gifts my care engage,
I’ve sent the cherish’d flow’r to thee
    Without a blemish, but from age.

Kiss but its leaves;—one kiss from thee,
    And all its sweetness ’twill regain;
And, if I live in memory
    Thus honour’d, send it back again!