VALENTINE VERSES,Sent to my young Friend, Miss Emma Trevelyan,OF WALLINGTON-HOUSE, NORTHUMBERLAND.Emma! ’tis early time for theeTo hear the sounds of minstrelsy,That breathe around the rosy shrineOf honest old Saint Valentine.Too young art thou for strains of love;’Tis not thy passion I would move;Instead of lover’s strains, I sendThe cordial wishes of a friend.Nobly has Nature done her duty,To give thee of thy mother’s beautySo large a share—oh! then be thineThe mental charms that in her shine!And may thy father’s taste refin’dStill add new graces to thy mind;And may’st thou to each charm impartThe gen’rous frankness of his heart.Then, my sweet Emma! thou shall moveIn many a heart more genuine loveThan ever warm’d poetic line,Or sigh’d in any Valentine.
Sent to my young Friend, Miss Emma Trevelyan,
Emma! ’tis early time for theeTo hear the sounds of minstrelsy,That breathe around the rosy shrineOf honest old Saint Valentine.Too young art thou for strains of love;’Tis not thy passion I would move;Instead of lover’s strains, I sendThe cordial wishes of a friend.Nobly has Nature done her duty,To give thee of thy mother’s beautySo large a share—oh! then be thineThe mental charms that in her shine!And may thy father’s taste refin’dStill add new graces to thy mind;And may’st thou to each charm impartThe gen’rous frankness of his heart.Then, my sweet Emma! thou shall moveIn many a heart more genuine loveThan ever warm’d poetic line,Or sigh’d in any Valentine.