TO MARY UNWIN

by: William Cowper (1731-1800)

ARY! I want a lyre with other strings,

Such aid from Heaven as some have feign'd they drew,

An eloquence scarce given to mortals, new

And undebased by praise of meaner things;

That ere through age or woe I shed my wings,

I may record thy worth with honour due,

In verse as musical as thou art true,

And that immortalizes whom it sings:

But thou hast little need. There is a Book

By seraphs writ with beams of heavenly light,

On which the eyes of God not rarely look,

A chronicle of actions just and bright--

There all thy deeds, my faithful Mary, shine;

And since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee mine.

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