LETTER105

letter105

charleslambtothomasmanning

march,1803.

dearmanning,isendyousomeversesihavemadeonthedeathofayoungquakeryoumayhaveheardmespeakofasbeinginlovewithforsomeyearswhileilivedatpentonville,thoughihadneverspokentoherinmylife.shediedaboutamonthsince.ifyouhaveinterestwiththeabbédelisle,youmayget'emtranslated:hehasdoneasmuchforthegeorgics.

hester

whenmaidenssuchashesterdie,

theirplaceyemaynotwellsupply,

thoughyeamongathousandtry,

withvainendeavour.

amonthormorehathshebeendead,

yetcannotibyforcebeled

tothinkuponthewormybed,

andhertogether.

aspringymotioninhergait,

arisingstep,didindicate

ofprideandjoynocommonrate,

thatflush'dherspirit.

iknownotbywhatnamebeside

ishallitcall:—if'twasnotpride,

itwasajoytothatallied,

shedidinherit.

herparentsheldthequakerrule,

whichdoththehumanfeelingcool,

butshewastrain'dinnature'sschool,

naturehadblesther.

awakingeye,apryingmind,

aheartthatstirs,ishardtobind,

ahawk'skeensightyecannotblind,

yecouldnothester.

mysprightlyneighbour,gonebefore

tothatunknownandsilentshore,

shallwenotmeet,asheretofore,

somesummermorning,

whenfromthycheerfuleyesaray

hathstruckablissupontheday,

ablissthatwouldnotgoaway,

asweetforewarning?

[thisletterispossiblyonlyafragment.ihavesupplied"hester"fromthe1818text.

theyoungquakerwashestersavory,thedaughterofjosephsavory,agoldsmithofthestrand.shewasmarriedjuly1,1802,anddiedafewmonthsafter.

"theabbédelisle."l'abbéjacquesdelille(1738-1813),knownbyhisgéorgiques,1770,atranslationintofrenchofvirgil'sgeorgics.]