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TO MRS. MARTHA BLOUNT (ON HER BIRTHDAY, 1723), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: O be thou blest with all that heaven can send
Last Line: And wake to raptures in a life to come.
Subject(s): Blount, Martha (patty) (1690-1763); Love


O BE thou blest with all that Heaven can send,
Long health, long youth, long pleasure and a friend!
Not with those toys the female race admire,
Riches that vex, and vanities that tire.
Not as the world its petty slaves rewards,
A youth of frolics, an old age of cards;
Fair to no purpose, artful to no end;
Young without lovers, old without a friend;
A fop their passion, but their prize a sot;
Alive, ridiculous,--and dead, forgot!

Let joy or ease, let affluence or content,
And the gay conscience of a life well spent,
Calm every thought, inspirit every grace,
Glow in thy heart and smile upon thy face;
Let day improve on day, and year on year,
Without a pain, a trouble, or a fear;
Till death unfelt that tender frame destroy,
In some soft dream, or ecstasy of joy;
Peaceful sleep out the Sabbath of the tomb,
And wake to raptures in a life to come.





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