1

PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM,
Dean Street;

FOR M. JONES, 1, PATERNOSTER-ROW

1803.

LENOX LIBRARY

NEW YORK

ΤΟ

ROBERT, EARL OF HOLDERNESSE,

`BARON D'ARCY, MENIL AND CONYERS,

LORD WARDEN OF HIS MAJESTY'S CINQUE Ports, and goVERNONOF DOVER CASTLE.

SONNET.

D'ARCY, to thee, whate'er of happier vein,
Smit with the love of song, my youth essay'd,
This verse devotes from ASTON's secret shade,
Where letter'd ease, thy gift, endears the scene.
Here, as the light-wing'd moments glide serene,

I weave the bower, around the tufted mead In careless flow the simple pathway lead, And strew with many a rose the shaven green. So, to deceive my solitary days,

With rural toils ingenuous arts I blend, Secure from envy, negligent of praise,

Yet not unknown to fame, if D'ARCY lend

His wonted smile to dignify my lays,

The Muse's patron, but the Poet's friend.

W. MASON.

May 12, 1763.