TO A YOUNG LADY,
ON THE AUTHOR’S READING TO HER STERNE’S
BEAUTIFUL STORY OF MARIA.
As Sterne’s pathetic tale you hear,
Why rudely check the rising sigh?
Why seek to hide the pitying tear,
Which adds new lustre to the eye?
Tears that lament another’s woe,
Unveil the goodness of the heart:
Uncheck’d, Maria, these should flow—