Living

To Miss Kelly

by Charles Lamb 1775–1834

From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, IV: Poems and Plays, ed. E. V. Lucas

Living

You are not, Kelly, of the common strain,
That stoop their pride and female honor down
To please that many-headed beast the town,
And vend their lavish smiles and tricks for gain;
By fortune thrown amid the actor's train,
You keep your native dignity of thought;
The plaudits that attend you come unsought,
As tributes due unto your natural vein.
Your tears have passion in them, and a grace
Of genuine freshness, which our hearts avow;
Your smiles are winds whose ways we cannot trace,
That vanish and return we know not how--
And please the better from a pensive face,
And thoughtful eye, and a reflecting brow.

MLA

Lamb, Charles. “To Miss Kelly.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/lamb/37/.

Chicago

Lamb, Charles. “To Miss Kelly.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/lamb/37/.

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