LITTLE maiden just beginning To be comely, arch, and winning, In whose form I catch the traces Of your mother's gifts and graces, And around whose head the glory Of your father's growing story, O'er whose cradle, fortune-guided, Mars and Venus both presided, May your fuller years inherit Female charm and manly merit, So that all may know who girt you With vivacity and virtue, Whence you had the luck to borrow Pensive mien without its sorrow, Dignity devoid of coldness, Sprightliness without its boldness, Raillery untipped by malice, Playful wit and kindly sallies, Eloquence averse from railing, Each good point without its failing! And when, little bud, you flower Into maidenhood and power, Fate no fainter heart allot you Than the brave one that begot you, So that you a race continue Worthy of the blood within you, Handing down the gifts you bring them, With a better bard to sing them. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FRIEND OF HUMANITY AND THE KNIFE-GRINDER by GEORGE CANNING NIGHT BY THE RIVER by MUHAMMAD AL-MU'TAMID II TWO THINGS by AMIR MAHMUD IBN AMIR YAMINU'D-DIN TUGHRA'I THE FELLOWSHIP by KATHARINE LEE BATES EMERGENCY by WILLIAM ROSE BENET SANDY STAR: 5. ONUS PROBANDI by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE |