Classic Poem

ODE VI.

WRITTEN IN BEDLAM: ON SEEING A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG FEMALE MANIAC .

Sweet maid! when sickness pales that angel face,
Like the rude worm that riots on the rose,
While goodness in thy gentle bosom glows,
Can beauty leave her dear accustom'd place?
No: still thy languid eye would beam a smile,
As near a cloud the sparkling sun-beams play,
Bright harbingers of more resplendent day,
Though the clear sun conceal himself awhile.
But, ah! if M ELANCHOLY 's baleful wand
Hath its pale poppies o'er thy temples spread;
If moon-struck horrors haunt thy restless head,
All-hopeless P ITY here shall take her stand:
P ITY for thee shall spare her softest sigh;
For thou wast P ITY 's child, the friend of M ISERY .