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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO MY COUSIN ANNE BODHAM, ON RECEIVING FROM HER A PURSE by WILLIAM COWPER

Poet Analysis

First Line: MY GENTLE ANNE, WHOM HERETOFORE
Last Line: THE BEST THINGS KEPT WITHIN IT.

MY gentle Anne, whom heretofore,
When I was young, and thou no more
Than plaything for a nurse,
I danced and fondled on my knee,
A kitten both in size and glee!
I thank thee for my purse.

Gold pays the worth of all things here;
But not of love:--that gem 's too dear
For richest rogues to win it;
I, therefore, as a proof of love,
Esteem thy present far above
The best things kept within it.



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