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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON THE BURNING OF LORD MANSFIELD'S LIBRARY (1) by WILLIAM COWPER

Poet Analysis

First Line: SO THEN - THE VANDALS OF OUR ISLE
Last Line: THE BURNING OF HIS OWN.
Subject(s): BOOKS; GREAT BRITAIN - GORDON RIOTS (1780); MURRAY, WILLIAM. 1ST EARL OF MANSFIELD; VANDALISM; READING;

TOGETHER WITH HIS MSS.,

BY THE MOB, IN THE MONTH OF JUNE 1780.

So then--the Vandals of our isle,
Sworn foes to sense and law,
Have burnt to dust a nobler pile
Than ever Roman saw!

And Murray sighs o'er Pope, and Swift,
And many a treasure more,
The well-judged purchase, and the gift,
That graced his lettered store.

Their pages mangled, burnt, and torn,
The loss was his alone;
But ages yet to come shall mourn
The burning of his own.



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