Jones' address to a sovereign

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Jones' address to a sovereign (1817)
3216112Jones' address to a sovereign1817

JONES’ ADDRESS
TO A
SOVEREIGN.

Lines from a Poem now in the press, by a poor man of the names of Jones, a native of Wales, who, after having been for ten or twelve years in the navy, is now employed in a cotton factory in Manchester. A few years ago a copy of his poem, called “The Cotton Mill,” was given to Mr. Buchanan, of Catrine, who sent the author a present of a sovereign. This gift seems to have arrived very opportunely, if we may judge from the lines it occasioned. Addressing the sovereign, the Poet says——

“Hail! joy-restorer, of Peruvian ore!
Thee, might the victims of distress adore,
Not Sol, when rising to a restless swain,
Nor stars to sailors on the mighty main,
Are half so welcome as thy sight to me,
What have I suffered for the want of thee?
For want of thee my clothes have worn in holes,
For want of thee my shoes have wanted soles;
For want of thee (while beasts and fowls were fed),
I’ve dropp’d and fainted for the loss of bread;
For want of thee the haughty sons of pride
Have turn’d their worthless empty heads aside;
For want of thee I’ve oft endur’d the scorn
Of nymphs, and frowns of dire oppressors borne;
For want of thee I’ve roam’d the country through,
And more of sorrow than contentment knew;
For want of thee my jokes have giv’n offence.
For want of thee I’ve wanted common sense;
For want of thee when wint’ry terrors spread,
I’ve wanted shelter for my aching head;
For want of thee pretended friends have thrown
The mask aside, and what they were, have shown,
For want of thee in company have I stood,
Mute as a statue, or a post of wood;
When others spoke, or sung with mirth and glee,
I’ve wanted utterance for the want of thee.”

W. Macarter, Printer, Ayr.

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse