VERSES
Written in a leaf of
THE AUTHOR’S POEMS, PRESENTED TO THE QUEEN.
THE MUSE’S LAST DYING SONG.
A muſe expiring, who, with earlieſt voice,
Made kings, and queens, and beauty’s charms, her choice,
Now on her deathbed this laſt homage pays,
O Queen! to thee: accept her dying lays.
So at th’ approach of death the cygnet tries5
To warble one note more—and ſinging dies.
“Hail, mighty Queen! whoſe pow’rful ſmile alone
Commands obedience, and ſecures the throne.
Contending parties and plebeian rage
Had puzzled loyalty for half an age;10
Conquering our hearts, you end the long diſpute;
All who have eyes confeſs you abſolute:
To Tory doctrines even Whigs reſign,
And in your perſon own a right divine.”
Thus ſang the Muse, in her laſt moments fir’d
With Carolina’s praise—and then expir’d.16
