Works

I will now have the Assurance to write out two Juvenile Poems of my own; one a Song upon the Marriage¹ of George the 3^d another intended to have been set to Musick and performed at Drury Lane when the Peace of Paris was concluded. the first is the best—

1.

When Pan sought a Consort his Empire to share,
He assembled the virtuous, the witty, the fair;
With each soft Attraction his Passions to move,
The Graces came—led by the Goddess of Love;
But Beauty alone the wise Monarch despis’d,
’Twas a Heart that he sought, & a Heart that he priz’d.

2.

Apollo came next with his Musical Choir
Who neglected their Charms, and rely’d on their Lyre;
While their Patron officious each Muse to prefer,
Read o’er her Performance, and begg’d him to hear
But Pan with Good humour such Offers refus’d,
For Wit was by Females too often abus’d.

3.

Next Dian approaching encourag’d her Train,
Of their Bashfulness proud21, of their Modesty vain,
So tender, so timid, so hard to be found
That She fear’d they could never consent to be crown’d.
Pan kindly dismiss’d ’em nor ventur’d to blame,
Though he neer saw true Virtue consistent with Shame.

4.

At length it grew Time their Caprice to oppose,
And young Syrinx the Daughter of Merit he chose,
She had not applied, but was seen to rejoyce,
When love from Olympus applauded the Choice,
And sent Hermes hither her Picture to find,
Who saw in her Eyes all the Worth of her Mind.

5.

She, fair, unaffected could conquer each Heart
And wise without Cunning could please without Art;
In private Life chearful, in Publick—serene;
How sweet a Companion! how gracious a Queen!
With Spirit good humour’d, with Modesty gay,
Such the Daughter of Merit, the Queen of the May.

Footnotes

1. King George married Charlotte of Mecklinburg-Strelitz in 1761.↩︎