Matthew Prior (1664-1721). To His Soul. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1910. The Book of Restoration Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.

To His Soul

By Matthew Prior (1664–1721)


Translated from the Latin of Hadrian POOR little, pretty, fluttering thing,
Must we no longer live together?
And dost thou prune thy trembling wing,
To take thy flight thou know’st not whither?

Thy humorous vein, thy pleasing folly,	5
Lie all neglected, all forgot;
And pensive, wavering, melancholy,
Thou dread’st and hop’st thou know’st not what.