The Attic Chest

Miss Porden

The Attic Chest, to her contributors and friends

Adieu, the dreaded hour is come
Too well my fears foretold my doom
We part for summer, blyth and gay
Calls you to taste his sweets away
Waiting in vain your wished return
For many a week your Chest shall mourn
While you on hill or flowry dale
The richly scented breeze inhale
Or free from care serene repose
In bowers of jasmine or of rose
Without one ray of cheering light
To pierce the dusky veil of night
Here shall I rest, unseen, unknown,
Unheeded sigh unheeded moan
Yet ah, attend the sole request
Of your unhappy Attic Chest
Oh in you memory’s tablet still
A place let my remembrance fill
Oh do not let my classic name
Oh do not let my former fame
Sink in oblivion’s silent stream
But buoyed by you still let it ride
And stem secure the fatal tide
And then when summer shall decay
And richer autumn fade away
And winter o’er the year shall reign
Then shall my hopes revive again
Yes I will hail his icy brow
Will welcome frost will welcome snow
Adieu, may you till then enjoy
The cup unmixed of health and joy.