Of letter’d wealth; and this he might explore.
A part his mother in her youth had gain’d, }
A part Nathaniel from his club obtain’d, }
And part—a well-worn kind—from sire to son remain’d. }
He sought his Mother’s hoard, and there he found
Romance in sheets, and poetry unbound;
Soft Tales of Love, which never damsel read, 80
But tears of pity stain’d her virgin bed.
There were Jane Shore and Rosamond the Fair,
And humbler heroines frail as these were there;