Verses written by the same Lady

SWEET age of blest delusion! blooming boys,Ah! revel long in childhood's thoughtless joys,With light and pliant spirits that can stoopTo follow, sportively, the rolling hoop;To watch the sleeping top with gay delight,Or mark, with raptured gaze, the sailing kite;Or, eagerly pursuing Pleasure's call,Can find it center'd in the bounding ball!Alas! the day will come, when sports like theseMust lose their magic, and their power to please;Too swiftly fled, the rosy hours of youthShall yield their fairy-charms to mournful Truth;

Even now, a mother's fond prophetic fearSees the dark train of human ills appear;Views various fortune for each lovely child,Storms for the bold, and anguish for the mild;Beholds already those expressive eyesBeam a sad certainty of future sighs;And dreads each suffering those dear breasts may knowIn their long passage through a world of woe;Perchance predestined every pang to prove,That treacherous friends inflict, or faithless love;For, ah! how few have found existence sweet,Where grief is sure, but happiness deceit!