| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| William Cowper. 1731–1800 |
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| 470. To Mary Unwin |
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| MARY! I want a lyre with other strings, | |
| Such aid from Heaven as some have feign'd they drew, | |
| An eloquence scarce given to mortals, new | |
| And undebased by praise of meaner things; | |
| That ere through age or woe I shed my wings, | 5 |
| I may record thy worth with honour due, | |
| In verse as musical as thou art true, | |
| And that immortalizes whom it sings: | |
| But thou hast little need. There is a Book | |
| By seraphs writ with beams of heavenly light, | 10 |
| On which the eyes of God not rarely look, | |
| A chronicle of actions just and bright— | |
| There all thy deeds, my faithful Mary, shine; | |
| And since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee mine. | |
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