Thomas Cowherd Poems

O, Alfred dear, thou wilt, I fear,
Get burned before 'tis long;
Thy little tricks with fiery sticks
Have called forth this my song
...

On the fifth of chill November
Came my Amie unto me,
Adding one more lovely member
To my numerous family
...

Doctor, you must not hence depart
Ere I address a parting lay
Fresh gushing from an honest heart,
Which grieves because you cannot stay
...

Pray deem it not presumptious in me
To give expression thus to what I felt
Last night, while listening to the poetry
In your discourse, as you on Commerce dwelt
...

Ellen, my prattler dear,
Willie, my darling boy,
My children need not fear,
They shall my gift employ
...

Fred, thou art six months old
This very day!
And I no more withold
From thee a lay
...

Parents-in-law, a Rhymer much in debt
Deems it full time to try his debts to pay;
And as some large arrears are standing yet,
To give this mite I will no more delay
...

Brother and sister dear, my stay I prolong here,
While an effusion can flow from my pen.
May it you gratify, your minds now satisfy,
That I may have courage to try it again
...

My friend much respected, 'tis hardly the thing
That I on some subjects so often should sing,
And yet never manage a rhyme to bestow
On one whose great kindness I'd gratefully show
...

To you, dear sister, I would now address
A rude production of my rhyming brain;
And if it does increase your happiness,
Of this intrusion you will not complain
...