The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer

To Lady Charlotte Gordon, Dressed in a Tartan Scotch Bonnet, With Plumes, &c.

1

Why, lady, wilt them bind thy lovely brow
With the dread semblance of that warlike helm;
That nodding plume, and wreath of various glow,
That graced the chiefs of Scotia’s ancient realm?


2

Thou know’st that Virtue is of power the source,
And all her magic to thy eyes is given;
We own their empire, while we feel their force,
Beaming with the benignity of heaven.


3

The plumy helmet and the martial mien
Might dignify Minerva’s awful charms;
But more resistless far the Idalian queen—
Smiles, graces, gentleness, her only arms.