THE AMATORY POEMS OF ABEL SHUFFLEBOTTOM. SONNET I. DELIA AT PLAY. SHE held a Cup and Ball of ivory white, Who on that dart IMPALES my BOSOM'S GEM? SONNET II. TO A PAINTER ATTEMPTING DELIA'S PORTRAIT. RASH Painter! canst thou give the ORB OF DAY The DIAMOND, that athwart the taper'd hall Rash Painter! should the world her charms behold, They to their old idolatry would fall, And bend before her form the pagan knee, Fairer than VENUS, DAUGHTER OF THE SEA. SONNET III. HE PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF A SOUL FROM HIS LOVE FOR DELIA. SOME have denied a soul! THEY NEVEr loved. SONNET IV. THE POET EXPRESSES HIS FEELINGS RESPECTING A PORTRAIT IN DELIA'S PARLOUR. I WOULD I were that portly Gentleman I envy him and jealous fear alarms, Lest the STRONG glance of those divinest charms LOVE ELEGIES. ELEGY I. THE POET RELATES HOW HE OBTAINED DELIA'S POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF. 'Tis mine! what accents can my joy declare? Blest be the pressure of the thronging rout! Blest be the hand so hasty of my fair, That left the tempting corner hanging out! I envy not the joy the pilgrim feels, After long travel to some distant shrine, When at the relic of his saint he kneels, For Delia's POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF IS MINE. When first with filching fingers I drew near, What though the Eighth Commandment rose to mind, |