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Home  »  English Poetry II  »  315. To a Young Lady

English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

William Cowper

315. To a Young Lady


SWEET stream, that winds through yonder glade,

Apt emblem of a virtuous maid—

Silent and chaste she steals along,

Far from the world’s gay busy throng:

With gentle yet prevailing force,

Intent upon her destined course;

Graceful and useful all she does;

Blessing and blest where’er she goes;

Pure-bosom’d as that watery glass,

And Heaven reflected in her face.