Mark Akenside Poems

The Shape alone let others prize,
The Features of the Fair;
I look for Spirit in her Eyes,
...

I.
Meek honor, female shame,
O! whither, sweetest offspring of the sky,
From Albion dost thou fly;
...

I.
To-night retir'd the queen of heaven
With young Endymion stays:
And now to Hesper is it given
...

From pompous life's dull masquerade,
From Pride's pursuits, and Passion's war,
Far, my Cordelia, very far,
...

Thrice hath the spring beheld thy faded fame
Since I exulting grasp'd the tuneful shell:
Eager through endless years to sound thy name,
Proud that my memory with thine should dwell.
...

I.
With sordid floods the wintry Urn
Hath stain'd fair Richmond's level green:
Her naked hill the Dryads mourn,
...

I.
Of all the springs within the mind
Which prompt her steps in fortune's maze,
From none more pleasing aid we find
...

I.
Queen of my songs, harmonious maid,
Ah why hast thou withdrawn thy aid?
Ah why forsaken thus my breast
...

I.
Whither did my fancy stray?
By what magic drawn away
Have I left my studious theme?
...

I. 1.
For toils which patriots have endur'd,
For treason quell'd and laws secur'd,
In every nation Time displays
...