Hail, happy bride! for thou art truly blest
| First Line | Hail, happy bride! for thou art truly blest | 
|---|---|
| Author | Mary Wortley Montagu | 
| Date | 1724 | 
| Description | Epitaph [Satire - social; Courtship, marriage; Women]. Transcribed from Lady M.W.M. "On the same Occasion. Written extempore." A collection of epigrams. . . 1727, p. 24. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0110240627.  | 
                        
| Links | 
Transcription
Hail, happy bride! for thou art truly blest,
Three months of rapture crown'd with endless rest;
Merit like yours was heav'n's peculiar care,
You lov’d — yet tasted happiness sincere.
To you the sweets of love were only shown,
The sure succeeding bitter dregs unknown:
You had not yet the fatal change deplor’d,
The tender lover for th' imperious lord;
Nor felt the pain that jealous fondness brings,
Nor wept the coldness from possession springs:
Above your sex distinguish'd in your fate;
You trusted — yet experienc'd no deceit.
Soft were your hours, and wing’d with pleasure flew,
No vain repentance gave a sigh to you;
And if superior bliss heaven can bestow,
With fellow-angels you enjoy it now.
Beinecke Osborn c360 (2/3)
| Title | Commonplace book | 
|---|---|
| Archive | Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library | 
Local title: 'Written Extempore, by Lady Mary Wortly Montague'
Beinecke Osborn fc132
| Title | Poems on Several Occasions; Collected from D [...] | 
|---|---|
| Period | 1761-1790 , 1791-1820 | 
| Archive | Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library | 
p. 121.
Local title: Elegy on a young married lady.
Attributed author: Lady M.W. Montague
Adaptation: n/a
Other variants: n/a
Other: n/a
Folger MS M.a.104
| Title | A Collection of Poems by Several Hands | 
|---|---|
| Period | 1701-1730 | 
| Archive | Folger Shakespeare Library | 
p. 113.
Local title: An Epitaph on Mrs Bowes.
Attributed author: Lady M.W. Moun—e.
Adaptation: n/a
Other variants: n/a
Other: n/a
Folger MS M.a.174
| Title | Untitled | 
|---|---|
| Period | 1701-1730 | 
| Archive | Folger Shakespeare Library | 
p. 43.
Local title: On the Death of Mrs. Bowes/ written by a Lady extempore on a Card.
Attributed author: a Lady.
Adaptation: n/a
Other variants: n/a
Other: n/a
Houghton MS Hyde 35 (5)
| Title | Untitled | 
|---|---|
| Period | 1791-1820 | 
| Archive | Houghton Library | 
p. 210
Local title: "Elegy on Mrs. Bowes, who died three months after her marriage."
Attributed author: Lady M.W. Montague[sic]
Adaptation: n/a
Other variants: n/a
Other: n/a
Huntington MS 82623
| Title | Untitled | 
|---|---|
| Period | 1701-1730 , 1731-1760 | 
| Archive | Huntington Library | 
p. 54
Local title: On the Death of Mrs. Bowes.
Attributed author: Lady Mary Wortley Montague[sic].
Adaptation: n/a
Other variants: n/s
Other: n/a
Leeds Brotherton Lt 12
| Title | Miscellany Poems 1728 | 
|---|---|
| Period | 1701-1730 , 1731-1760 , 1761-1790 | 
| Archive | Brotherton Library | 
p. 28.
Local title: Written by Lady M.W. Montague on a card upon her hearing of the death of Mrs Bows.
Attributed author: Lady M.W. Montague.
Adaptation: n/a
Other variants: First line: "surely blest" instead of "truly blest."
Other: n/a