Suffer Little Children, And Forbid Them Not, To Come Unto Me
July 5, 2023Nurse Green
July 5, 2023On Being Asked To Write In Miss Westwood’s Album
My feeble Muse, that fain her best would
Write, at command of Frances Westwood,
But feels her wits not in their best mood,
Fell lately on some idle fancies,
As she’s much given to romances,
About this self-same style of Frances;
Which seems to be a name in common
Attributed to man or woman.
She thence contrived this flattering moral,
With which she hopes no soul will quarrel,
That she, whom this twin title decks,
Combines what’s good in either sex;
Unites–how very rare the case is!–
Masculine sense to female graces;
And, quitting not her proper rank,
Is both in one–Fanny and frank.
Oct. 12, 1827.
Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb (1775-1834) was an English essayist and poet, best known for his humorous and autobiographical essays, collected in Essays of Elia. He was also a close friend of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and the two collaborated on a collection of poems called Tales from Shakespeare.