The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 17/To Mrs. Martha Blount, on Her Birthday

by Jonathan Swift

TO MRS. MARTHA BLOUNT.

SENT ON HER BIRTHDAY, JUNE 15.

O, be thou blest with all that Heaven can send,
Long health, long youth, long pleasure, and a friend!
Not with those toys the female race admire,
Riches that vex, and vanities that tire;
Not as the world its petty slaves rewards,
A youth of frolicks, an old age of cards;
Fair to no purpose, artful to no end;
Young without lovers, old without a friend;
A fop their passion, bur their prize a sot;
Alive, ridiculous; and dead, forgot!
⁠Let joy or ease, let affluence or content,
And the gay conscience of a life well spent,
Calm ev'ry thought, inspirit ev'ry grace,
Glow in thy heart, and smile upon thy face:
Let day improve on day, and year on year,
Without a pain, a trouble, or a fear;
Till Death unfelt that tender frame destroy,
In some soft dream, or ecstasy of joy;
Peaceful sleep out the sabbath of the tomb,
And wake to raptures in a life to come!