Poems

Chapter 91: LINES TO MISS E. ATKINSON,

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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.

LINES TO MISS E. ATKINSON,

ON HER PRESENTING THE AUTHOR WITH AN IRISH PEBBLE.

Oft does the lucid pebble shine,
    Just cover’d by the murm’ring sea;
Thus precious, thus conceal’d, it shews,
    Fair maid! thy mind and modesty.

If searching eyes the stone discern,
    Quick will the hand of Art remove
Each ruder part, till, brilliant grown,
    It seals the fond record of love.

And here the sweet connexion ends,
    Eliza! ’twixt the gem and thee;
For thou wast polish’d from the first,
    By Nature’s hand, more happily!