But thou hast quaffed the purest rays
That round the patriot’s forehead blaze.”
This, of course, inspired a reply by return. It is dated March 31, 1810, and, after paying homage to “the gifted bard,” Miss Mitford concluded with the modest lines:—
“For me—unskilful to prolong
The finely modulated song—
Whose simple lay spontaneous flows
As Nature charms, or feeling glows,
Wild, broken, artless as the strains
Of linnets on my native plains,
And timid as the startled dove,