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Title: A Letter From Miss Maria C***, To Her Parents
Author: James Parkerson [
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My pen I take, my wretched fate to state,
Pardon, oh pardon, tho’ a vile ingrate;
Your daughter late so innocent and gay,
Was by a vile seducer led astray
From those chase precepts by you taught to know,
That he who sets above knows all below;
Either on earth or in the heavenly skies,
Each substance falls or as he wishes rise.
I fell a victim to unchaste desires,
And feel those sorrows vengeance now requires,
After I left a parent’s house and home,
Induced with wicked Henry to roam;
That sweet society my bosom knew,
From me that instant bade a long adieu.
Time, I much fear, will not that balm restore;
Its fled from me and will return no more.
I know that sweet compassion fills your mind,
And to forgiveness ever was inclin’d;
Take then your daughter to your arms again,
And she from latent vices will abstain.
With pious thoughts she’ll pass the day away,
Till stern reproof is banish’d far away;
Too well I know that censure will appear,
In every mansion when Maria’s there;
Soon as the vengeance of her sting is cast,
The scoffers arrogance no longer last;
Too true I know that woes I’m doom’d to bear,
The unfeeling frown the virgin’s haughty sneer;
In time they’ll vanish when its known I rove,
In virtue’s path with innocence and love.
My prayers I’ll offer to the throne on high,
And live as ordered by the Deity.
Lately I met my Mother’s upper maid,
To ask her questions I was much afraid;
Yet ere I bade the honest girl adieu,
Nature compell’d me to inquire of you:
She said my mother fell a prey to grief,
And that no medicine could give relief;
In stating this a tear escaped her eye.
Return she cried, then heaved a tender sigh:
I will return and ere her spirits fled,
Press my lov’d mother on her couch or bed.
For pity’s sake write me a line to say,
If I to you may speedy bend my way;
This boon is all I ask and now I crave,
A parent’s blessing ere I meet the grave.
[The end]
James Parkerson's poem: Letter From Miss Maria C***, To Her Parents
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