Poem by Mary Wortley Montagu

A Hymn to the Moon

Written in July, in an arbour

Thou silver deity of secret night,
Direct my footsteps through the woodland shade;
Thou conscious witness of unknown delight,
The Lover's guardian, and the Muse's aid!
By thy pale beams I solitary rove,
To thee my tender grief confide;
Serenely sweet you gild the silent grove,
My friend, my goddess, and my guide.
E'en thee, fair queen, from thy amazing height,
The charms of young Endymion drew;
Veil'd with the mantle of concealing night;
With all thy greatness and thy coldness too. 

1. The Fourth Ode of the First Book of Horace Imitated
2. Epigram, 1734
3. Melinda's Complaint
4. Epistle to Lord Hervey on the King's Birthday from the Country
5. Ballad, on a Late Occurrence

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