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TRIBUTE

TO THE MEMORY OF

WILLIAM COWPER,

AUTHOR OF THE TASK AND OTHER POEMS,

OCCASIONED BY THE PERUSAL OF HIS WORKS, AND HAYLEY'S
MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE.

By I. T. S.

Attachment strong

Springs from delight bestow'd. To me delight
Long hast thou giv'n; and I have giv'n thee praise,
Scott's Amwell.

But if unhappily deceiv'd, I dream,

And prove too weak for so sublime a theme;
Let Charity forgive me a mistake,

That zeal, not vanity, has chanc'd to make,
And spare the Poet, for his subjects sake..

Cowper's Charity.

IPSWICH

Printed and Sold by J. Raw;

AND SOLD BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, DARTON
AND HARVEY, AND I, AND A. ARCH, LONDON.

1808.

VIV

OCCASIONAL STANZAS.

A Muse, unskill'd to touch th' harmonious string,
To virtuous CowPER, her just tribute pays.
At Friendship's call, she plumes her tender wing;
To Friendship, consecrates her artless lays.

And ye, who well the happier secret know,

At once t' instruct, to soothe and charm mankind, Forgive, if here, no polish'd numbers flow;

If here, no cultivated flowers ye find.

But, if her desultory strain convey

One just, one genuine lesson to the heart; If Truth and Virtue own her rude essay;

She asks no higher praise for these impart To her more pure delight, than wreaths supplied From fam'd Castalia's spring, or Pindus' flowery side.

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