Poems

A selection of poems notable for frequency of appearance, significance to their miscellany context, or meta-reflection on the subject of compiling a poetry book

Displaying 151–175 poems out of 193 total

Search for keywords within first line, transcription, description, or author name. For exact phrases, use quotation marks (e.g. “A knife dear girl”)

First Line Author Description Manuscripts
To thee dear wife,—and all must grant Samuel Bishop

Occasional (Presentation of gift) [Love; Courtship, marriage].

Transcribed from Bishop, Samuel. "With a Pocket Looking Glass." Select collection of poems, from admired authors, and scarce miscellanies..., 1790, pp. 50–51. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0110842528.

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To thee, dear Swift, these spotless leaves I send John Boyle

Occasional (Gift of a blank paper book) [Literature]. 

Transcribed from "To the Rev. Dr Swift, with a Present of a Paper Book Finely Bound." The Gentleman's Magazine: or, Monthly intellegencer, vol. 3, January 1733, p. 40. British Periodicals, [ProQuest document ID:] 8315023. 

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Tomorrow, didst thou say! Nathaniel Cotton

Imitation; Epigraph [Imitation, parody; Historical subjects; Literature; Latin poetry].

Transcribed from Cotton, Nathaniel. "Tomorrow." Various pieces in verse and prose. By the late Nathaniel Cotton, M.D. many of which were never before published. In two volumes. Vol. 1, 1791, pp. 72–74. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CB0128488762. 

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Too well these lines that fatal truth declare, John Hervey

Answer [Love; Death, afterlife]

Transcribed from Dodsley, J. A collection of poems in six volumes. By several hands: With notes. 1782.Eighteenth Century Collections Online, https://name.umdl.umich.edu/004876767.0001.004.

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Turn, gentle hermit of the dale, Oliver Goldsmith 7
Two or three Dears, and two or three Sweets

Receipt [Courtship, marriage]. 

Transcribed from "A Receipt for Courtship." Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 12, issue 16, April 1732, p. 718. British Periodicals, [ProQuest document ID] 8440175.

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Underneath this sable hearse William Browne

Epitaph [Death, afterlife; Family].

Transcribed from A collection of epigrams. To which is prefixed, a critical dissertation on this species of poetry. 2nd ed., vol. 1, London, 1735. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Gale|CW0111110409. 

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Unequal, how shall I the search begin? Judith Cowper Madan

Essay [Literature; Classical themes].

Madan, Judith. The progress of poetry. By Mrs. Madan, 1783. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0110762434. 

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Unskill'd in Numbers & poetic flight Eleanor Peart

Occasional (Presentation of gift book) [Family; Literature]. 

Transcribed from Bodleian Eng. Poet. e.28.

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Unspoilt by flattery, and Untaught by art William Heath Marsh

Occasional [Literature; Friendship].

Transcribed from "To a Lady who had expressed her approbation of some of the Authors productions, and solicited the sight of some further effusions of his Muse." Marsh, William Heath. UChicago Library Codex Ms 529 vol. 2 pp. 50–52.

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View not this Spire by Measure giv'n Matthew Prior

Occasional [erection of a column] (Death, afterlife; Devotional writing, religious belief). 

Transcribed from Prior, Matthew, "Engraven on a Column in the Church of Halstead in Essex, The Spire of which, burnt down by Lightning, was rebuilt at the Expense of Mr. Samuel Fiske, 1717." Poems on several occasions, 1718, p. 312. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0111475928.

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Virtue and Fame, the other day George Lyttelton

Dialogue; Answer. [Conduct, morality; Celebrity.]

Transcribed from "VIRTUE and FAME. to the Ct—Ss of E—Gr—t." The Gentleman's Magazine: and historical chronicle, vol. 31, March 1761, p. 135. British Periodicals, [ProQuest document ID:] 8577580.

Sometimes includes an extempore by Earl Hardwicke. 

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Welcome little helpless stranger Anna Letitia Barbauld

Occasional (Child's birth) [Family]. 

Transcribed from "On the Birth of an Infant." Miscellanies, moral and instructive, in prose and verse, collected from various authors, for the use of schools, and improvement of young persons of both sexes, vol. 2, 1793, p. 86. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0115374333. 

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What art thou, Spleen, which everything dost ape? Anne Kingsmill Finch

Ode [Passions, sentiments].

Transcribed from Finch, Anne Kingsmill. The spleen, a pindarique ode. By a lady. Together with A prospect of death: a pindarique essay, 1709. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0113427011. 

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What Fears, what Terrors does thy Gift create! Samuel Johnson

Transcribed from "On a LADY's Presenting a Spring of MYRTLE to a GENTLEMAN." The Museum : or, The literary and historical register, vol. 2, issue 26, March 1747, p. 429. British Periodicals, [ProQuest document ID:] 3911152.

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When Bath, grown temperate, his bottle leaves [Nixon]

Panegyric [Humour; Public affairs]. 

Transcribed from Nixon, A Prophecy, 1790. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CB0127690318. 

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When Delia on the Plain appears George Lyttelton

Song; Pastoral [Love]. 

Transcribed from [Lyttleton, George,] "A Song." Tunbrigialia: or, Tunbridge miscellanies, for the year 1733, 1733, pp. 14–15. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0110247939. 

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When e'er the cruel hand of death

Ode; Parody [Humour]. 

Transcribed from "On the Fall of a CHINA QUART." St. James magazine, vol. 1, November 1762, pp. 212-214. British Periodicals, [ProQuest document ID:] 6140779. 

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When Foes are o'ercome, we preserve them from Slaughter Jonathan Swift

Occasional (British Government awarding contract to William Wood to mint halfpennies for use in Ireland) [Satire - political; Public affairs].

Transcribed from Swift, Jonathan, A Serious Poem upon William Wood, Brasier, Tinker, Hard-Ware-Man, Coiner, Counterfeiter, Founder and Esquire, 1724. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0117155473. 

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When Horace wak'd his lyric strains William Boscawen

Ode; Occasional (gift of author's Odes of Horace) [Classical themes; Historical subjects; Women]; original to the Folger M.a. 163. 

Boscawen, William, "Verses to Lady Elinor Butler and Miss Ponsonby, sent with the author's translation of The Odes of Horace," Poems by William Boscawen, Esq. ... , 1801, pp. 96–98. Google Books.

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When Pallas saw the piece her pupils wrought Christopher Pitt

Occasional (On seeing a flowered carpet) [Women; Classical themes]. 

Transcribed from "Verses on a Flower'd Carpet, Work'd by the Young Ladies at Kingston." The student, or, the Oxford, and Cambridge monthly miscellany, 1750, pp. 266–267. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0115312326. 

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When Snows descend, and robe the Fields James Hervey

Translation [Nature]. 

Transcribed from Hervey, James. Meditations among the tombs. In a letter to a lady, 1746, pt. 2, p. 99.  Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0119672640.

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When Tadloe walks the Streets, the Paviours Cry

Epigram [Humour].

Transcribed from "CLXXIII." A collection of epigrams. To which is prefix'd, a critical dissertation on this species of poetry, 1727, p. 114. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0110240627.

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Where the loveliest expression to features is join'd Charles James Fox

Sonnet [Celebrities; Friendship; Love]. 

Transcribed from Fox, Charles. "Verses upon Mrs. Crewe." The festival of wit: or, the small talker..., 1783, pp. 166–168. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CW0124736774.

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While Night in solemn Shade invests the Pole Elizabeth Carter

Lyric [Passions; Conduct, morality].

Transcribed from Carter, Elizabeth. Poems on several occasions, 1762, pp. 31–34. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, GALE|CB0130752242.

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