To Margaret

To Margaret by Edgar Allan Poe

From 1827. To the right of each line, Poe gives the source from which it was adapted. The reference of Cowper applies to the line marked and the following one.

Who hath seduced thee to this foul revolt From the pure well of Beauty undefiled? So banish from true wisdom to prefer Such squalid wit to honourable rhyme? To write? To scribble? Nonsense and no more? I will not write upon this argument To write is human -- not to write divine.

Milton Par. Lost Bk. I Somebody Cowper's Task, Book I   Shakespeare do. Trolius & Cressida Pope Essay on Man

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.