An Epistle from Lady G—, to His Royal Highness the Duke of C—. 1785

Ah, dear deluder, cause of all my woe, Who made me break the solemn nuptial vow; Who by compulsion and enticing charms, Seduc'd me from the tend'rest husband's arms, Hear how too late my injur'd lord I mourn, How eager I'd to Virtue's paths return. Ah, vainest thought, my sacred honor's gone, Snar'd by Persuasion's smooth ascendant tongue; But now I grieve, abandon'd and alone, My former frailties in Seclusion's gloom.

How mem'ry rouses, (ah! that gushing tear) In my rack'd brain ideas sadly dear, That rapt'rous day Imagination sees, When I sought much lov'd C— to please, When I receiv'd thee in a blithe alcove, Imperial object of my guilty love! For o'er my head the graceful smiles were seen Of genial Venus, Beauty's peerless queen, With fair Adonis, vot'ry to her power, In sweet embraces in the Idalian bower; And white plum'd Jove, dissolv'd in soft desire, O'ercome by Laeda and the golden fire, Myself beneath in brightest scarlet roll'd, Sat mantled loosely with a veil of gold, Lost in tumultuous languishments of love, I made your heart with am'rous ardour move; Oh! that I cou'd forget th' unhappy bliss, But conscience stings o'ertake who did amiss.

Low thoughted Slander's quick reviling tongue Expos'd me, Virtue's progeny among: Unhappy me, so vilified by Fame, That late posterity shall hate my name.

What is a woman once her virtue's gone; She mourns the crime for which she can't atone, Depriv'd of balmy slumbers lenient rest, She feels recoiling torture in her breast, Cold sweats, convulsions, agonizing pains, Eternal throbbing through her languid veins, Tumultuous rackings, sighs, distractions, fears, And all th' effects of never ceasing tears; She feels ineffable, her pain augment, Beyond Imagination's vast extent, My pen delineates not what she endures, Death's raging pains are mild, compar'd to her's!

Now from society, in solitude, My youthful passion's impulse is subdu'd, I'll banish C— far from my thoughts, Revere my lord, repent my former faults, And let my soul with seriousness be given To the indulgent Majesty of Heaven.

Misfortunes ever follow lawless loves, This our libidinous example proves. Illicit love's supreme destructive powers Destroy'd Heaven-founded Phrygia's lofty towers, Illicit love degraded Tarquin's pride, And drove from pomp th' imperious regicide: Illicit love, Antonius, caus'd thy doom, And spoil'd thee of th' imperial throne of Rome: Illicit love untimely cropt the flower, The blooming boast of Woodstock's mazy bower; Illicit love destroy'd—but sobs and sighs, Erase my thoughts, and tears bedew my eyes.