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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ADDRESSED TO -, by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU Poet's Biography First Line: With toilsome steps I pass through life's dull road Last Line: And mourn in prison whilst I keep the key? Alternate Author Name(s): Montagu, Mary Wortley; Pierrepont, Mary | |||
With toilsome steps I pass through life's dull road (No pack-horse half so tired of his load); And when this dirty journey will conclude, To what new realms is then my way pursued? Say, then does the unbodied spirit fly To happier climes and to a better sky? Or, sinking, mixes with its kindred clay, And sleeps a whole eternity away? Or shall this form be once again renew'd, With all its frailties, all its hopes, endu'd; Acting once more on this detested stage Passions of youth, infirmities of age? I see in Tully what the ancients thought, And read unprejudic'd what moderns taught; But no conviction from my reading springs -- Most dubious on the most important things. Yet one short moment would at once explain What all philosophy has sought in vain; Would clear all doubt, and terminate all pain. Why then not hasten that decisive hour; Still in my view, and ever in my pow'r? Why should I drag along this life I hate, Without one thought to mitigate the weight? Whence this mysterious bearing to exist, When ev'ry joy is lost, and ev'ry hope dismiss'd? In chains and darkness wherefore should I stay, And mourn in prison whilst I keep the key? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU SIX TOWN ECLOGUES: SATURDAY; THE SMALL-POX by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU THE LOVER: A BALLAD by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU VERSES ADDRESSED TO IMITATOR OF FIRST SATIRE OF HORACE by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU A MAN IN LOVE by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU A SYNOPSIS OF LORD LYTTLETON'S 'ADVICE TO A LADY' by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU ADVICE by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU AN ANSWER TO A LOVE-LETTER IN VERSE by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU EPIGRAM by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU EPILOGUE TO MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS; SPOKEN BY MRS. OLDFIELD by MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU |
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