AH! SHELBURNE, blest with all that's good or great, T' adorn a rich, or save a sinking state, If public Ills engross not all thy care, Let private Woe assail a patriot's ear, Pity confined, but not less warm, impart, And unresisted win thy noble heart: Nor deem I rob thy soul of Britain's share, Because I hope to have some interest there; Still wilt thou shine on all a fostering sun, Though with more fav'ring beams enlight'ning one, -- As Heaven will oft make some more amply blest, Yet still in general bounty feeds the rest. Oh hear the Virtue thou reverest plead; She'll swell thy breast, and there applaud the deed. She bids thy thoughts one hour from greatness stray, And leads thee on to fame a shorter way; Where, if no withering laurel's thy reward, There's shouting Conscience, and a grateful Bard; A bard untrained in all but misery's school, Who never bribed a knave or praised a fool; -- 'Tis Glory prompts, and as thou read'st attend, She dictates pity, and becomes my friend; She bids each cold and dull reflection flee, And yields her Shelburne to distress and me! -- | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE STORM by KATHERINE MANSFIELD TO A FRIEND WRITING ON CABARET DANCERS by EZRA POUND THE VANTAGE POINT by ROBERT FROST TO THE MOCKINGBIRD by RICHARD HENRY WILDE EPITAPH by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES QUERIES TO CAUISTS by GEORGE GORDON BYRON UPON MY LORD CHIEF JUSTICE HIS ELECTION OF MY LADY ANNE WENTWORTH FOR HIS MISTRESS by THOMAS CAREW |