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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON A HALFPENNY WHICH A YOUNG LADY GAVE A BEGGAR, WHICH AUTHOR REDEEMED by HENRY FIELDING

First Line: DEAR LITTLE, PRETTY, FAVOURITE ORE
Last Line: THO' HE SHOULD KEEP ME OUT OF HEAVEN.
Subject(s): MONEY;

Dear little, pretty, favourite ore,
That once increas'd @3Gloriana's@1 store
That lay within her bosom bless'd,
Gods might have envied thee thy nest.
I've read, imperial @3Fove@1 of old
For love transform'd himself to gold:
And why, for a more lovely lass,
May he not now have lurk'd in brass;
Oh! rather than from her he'd part,
He'd shut that charitable heart,
That heart whose goodness nothing less
Than his vast power, could dispossess.
From @3Gloriana's@1 gentle touch
Thy mighty value now is such,
That thou to me art worth alone
More than his medals are to @3Sloan@1.
Not for the silver and the gold
Which @3Corinth@1 lost should'st thou be sold:
Not for the envied mighty mass
Which misers wish, or @3M -- h@1 has:
Not for what @3India@1 sends to @3Spain@1,
Nor all the riches of the Main.
While I possess thy little store,
Let no man call, or think, me poor;
Thee, while alive, my breast shall have,
My hand shall grasp thee in the grave:
Nor shalt thou be to @3Peter@1 given
Tho' he should keep me out of heaven.



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