Then I do live in a small house alone;
Altho' 'tis plain, yet cleanly 'tis within,
Like to a soul that's pure and clear from sin;
And there I dwell in quiet and still peace,
Not fill'd with cares how riches to increase;
I wish nor seek for vain and fruitless pleasures,
No riches are, but what the mind intreasures.
Thus am I solitary, live alone,

Yet better lov'd, the more that I am known;
And tho' my face ill-favour'd at first sight,
After acquaintance it will give delight.
Refuse me not, for I shall constant be,
Maintain your credit and your dignity.

ANNE KILLEGREW,

died 1685.

This very accomplished young woman, whom Dryden has immortalised, was the daughter of Dr. Henry Killegrew, master of the Savoy, and one of the prebendaries of Westminster. She was maid of honour to the Dutchess of York; and died of the small-pox in her twenty-fifth year.

Of her poetical compositions, the thin quarto published after her death contains some pleasing specimens ; and her portrait prefixed to it, a mezzotint from a picture by herself, is at once a proof of her beauty and of her skill in painting.

The Complaint of a Lover.

SEE'ST thou yonder craggy rock,

Whose head o'erlooks the swelling main,

Where never shepherd fed his flock,
Or careful peasant sow'd his grain?

No wholesome herb grows on the same,
Or bird of day will on it rest;
"Tis barren as the hopeless flame,

That scorches my tormented breast.

Deep underneath a cave does lie,

Th' entrance hid with dismal yew, Where Phoebus never shew'd his eye, Or cheerful day yet pierced through.

In that dark melancholy cell,

(Retreat and solace to my woe,) Love, sad despair, and I, do dwell,

The springs from whence my griefs do flow.

Treacherous love that did appear,

(When he at first approach'd my heart,) Drest in a garb far from severe,

Or threatening ought of future smart.

So innocent those charms then seem'd,
When Rosalinda first I spy'd,

Ah! who would them have deadly deem'd?
But flowers do often serpents hide.

Beneath those sweets concealed lay,
To love the cruel foe, disdain,
With which (alas) she does repay
My constant and deserving pain.

When I in tears have spent the night,
With sighs I usher in the sun,

Who never saw a sadder sight

In all the courses he has run.

Sleep, which to others ease does prove,
Comes unto me, alas in vain;

For in my dreams I am in love,
And in them too she does disdain.

Sometimes, t' amuse my sorrow, I
Unto the hollow rocks repair,
And loudly to the echo cry,

Ah! gentle nymph, come ease my care.

Thou who, times past, a lover wert,
Ah! pity me, who now am so,
And by a sense of thine own smart,
Alleviate my mighty woe.

Come flatter then, or chide

my grief;

Catch my last words, and call me fool;

Or say she loves for my relief;

My passion either soothe, or school.

Upon the saying that my Verses were made by Another.

Next heaven, my vows to thee, O sacred Muse! I offer'd up, nor didst thou them refuse.

O Queen of verse, said I, if thou 'lt inspire,
And warm my soul with thy poetic fire,

No love of gold shall share with thee my heart,
Or yet ambition in my breast have part,
More rich, more noble I will ever hold
The Muse's laurel than a crown of gold.
An undivided sacrifice I'll lay

Upon thine altar, soul and body pay;
Thou shalt my pleasure, my employment be,
My all I'll make a holocaust to thee.

The deity that ever does attend

Prayers so sincere, to mine did condescend.
I writ, and the judicious prais'd my pen:
Could any doubt ensuing glory then?
What pleasing raptures fill'd my ravish'd sense,
How strong, how sweet, Fame, was thy influence!
And thine, false hope, that to my flatter'd sight
Did'st glories represent so near and bright!
By thee deceiv'd, methought each verdant tree
Apollo's transform'd Daphne seem'd to be;
And every fresher branch, and every bough,
Appear'd as garlands to empale my brow.
The learn'd in love say, thus the winged boy
Does first approach, drest up in welcome joy;
At first he to the cheated lover's sight
Nought represents but rapture and delight,
Alluring hopes, soft fears, which stronger bind
Their hearts, than when they more assurance find.