1827

(APPROXIMATELY)

 

TO MARGARET

 

Who hath seduced thee to this foul revolt                   }  Milton Par. Lost
Bk. I

From the pure well of Beauty undefiled?                    } Somebody
So banish from true wisdom to prefer                        } Cowper's Task,
Book I

Such squalid wit to honourable rhyme?
To write? To scribble? Nonsense and no more?        } Shakespeare
I will not write upon this argument                            } do. Trolius &
Cressida

To write is human -- not to write divine.                    } Pope Essay on
Man


[TO OCTAVIA]

 
When wit, and wine, and friends have met
And laughter crowns the festive hour
In vain I struggle to forget
Still does my heart confess thy power
            And fondly turn to thee!
But Octavia, do not strive to rob
My heart of all that soothes its pain
The mournful hope that every throb
            Will make it break for thee!