In the Album of Lucy Barton

Charles Lamb. Written in 1824 for the daughter of his
friend Bernard Barton.

Little Book, surnamed of white,
Clean as yet and fair to sight,
Keep thy attribution right.

Never disproportioned scrawl;
Ugly blot, that’s worse than all;
On thy maiden clearness fall!

In each letter, here designed,
Let the reader emblemed find
Neatness of the owner’s mind.

Gilded margins count a sin,
Let thy leaves attraction win
By the golden rules within;

Saying fetched from sages old;
Laws which Holy Writ unfold,
Worthy to be graved in gold:

Lighter fancies not excluding;
Blameless wit, with nothing rude in,
Sometimes mildly interluding,

Amid strains of graver measure:
Virtue’s self hath oft her pleasure
In sweet Muses’ groves of leisure.

Riddles dark, perplexing sense;
Darker meanings of offence;
What but shades—he banished hence.

Whitest thoughts in whitest dress,
Candid meanings, best express
Mind of quiet Quakeress.