Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. III. The Eighteenth Century: Addison to Blake
Matthew Prior (16641721)To a Child of Quality, Five Years Old
L
That wear the fair Miss Mary’s fetters,
Were summoned by her high command,
To show their passions by their letters.
Lest those bright eyes that cannot read
Should dart their kindling fires, and look
The power they have to be obeyed.
Forbid me yet my flame to tell;
Dear five years old befriends my passion,
And I may write till she can spell.
With all the tender things I swear;
Whilst all the house my passion reads,
In papers round her baby’s hair;
For, though the strictest prudes should know it,
She ’ll pass for a most virtuous dame,
And I for an unhappy poet.
The lines some younger rival sends;
She ’ll give me leave to write, I fear,
And we shall still continue friends.
’Tis so ordained, (would Fate but mend it!)
That I shall be past making love,
When she begins to comprehend it.