Happy the Maid who Scorns the Ensnaring Wiles

Happy the Maid who scorns th’ ensnaring Wiles

Of specious, vain, insinuating Man;

In Solitude serene, content she smiles,

Nor wish for Conquest blots her little plan.

To nobler, purer Joys her thoughts aspire,

For friendship harmonizes all her Soul;

For her the Muses oft attune the Lyre,

Exalt her pleasures and her cares controul.

Text: MS, Steele Collection, Angus Library, Regents Park College, STE 3/3/1, p. 101; this poem first published in Nonconformist Women Writers, 1720-1840, vol. 2 (ed. Julia B. Griffin), p. 170.