Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.

The Answer

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762)

THOUGH I never get possession,

’Tis a pleasure to adore;

Hope, the wretch’s only blessing,

May, in time, procure me more.

Constant courtship may obtain her,

Where both wealth and merit fail;

And the lucky minute gain her—

Fate and fancy must prevail.

At Diana’s shrine, aloud,

By the bow and by the quiver,

Thrice she bowed, and thrice she vowed,

Once to love—and that forever.