THE ROSE. THE rose had been washed (just washed in a shower) Which Mary to Anna conveyed, The plentiful moisture encumbered the flower, And weighed down its beautiful head. The cup was all filled, and the leaves were all wet, 5 And it seemed to a fanciful view, To weep for the buds it had left with regret, On the flourishing bush where it grew. I hastily seized it, unfit as it was For a nosegay, so dripping and drowned, 'And such,' I exclaimed, 'is the pitiless part Some act by the delicate mind, Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart Already to sorrow resigned. "This elegant rose, had I shaken it less, Might have bloomed with its owner a while; And the tear that is wiped with a little address May be followed perhaps by a smile.' ΙΟ 15 20 NOTES. LOVE OF THE WORLD REPROVED. Written in February or March 1779. Published by Cowper in Poems, 1782, p. 320, with this note :—'It may be proper to inform the reader that this piece has already appeared in print, having found its way, though with some unnecessary additions by an unknown hand, into the Leeds Journal, without the author's privity.' The hand was that of the Rev. J. Newton: who, in a letter to Mr. J. Thornton, dated March 13, 1779, and afterwards printed in the Congregational Magazine, sent him a copy of this poem; stating that it was versified from the tale of The Mahometan Hog,' which he had told to Cowper. He adds, 'He did it in about an hour. It gives a proof that his faculties are no ways hurt by his long illness, and likewise that the taste and turn of his mind are still the The six lines included in brackets are an addition of mine.' These are here retained, because Cowper reproduced them in 1782. same. THE PINE-APPLE AND THE BEE. Poems, 1782, p. 330. Written in Sept. 1779. (See letter to Hill, Oct. 2. 1779.) THE PROMOTION OF LORD THURLOW. Poems, 1782, p. 309. Written in Nov. 1779-'I should offend against the cordiality of our former friendship, should I send a volume into the world and forget how much I am bound to pay my particular respects to your Lordship upon that occasion. Among the pieces which I have the honour to send, there is one for which I must entreat your pardon. The best excuse I can make is, that it flowed almost spontaneously from the affectionate remembrance of a connexion that did me so much honour.'-To Thurlow, Feb. 25, 1782. Edward Thurlow (born 1732, died 1806) was eldest son of the Rev. |