Poem by Mary Wortley Montagu

On Seeing a Portrait of Sir Robert Walpole

Such were the lively eyes and rosy hue
Of Robin's face, when Robin first I knew;
The gay companion and the fav'rite guest;
Lov'd without awe, and without views caress'd;
His cheerful smile, and open honest look,
Added new graces to the truth he spoke.
Then ev'ry man found something to commend,
The pleasant neighbour and the worthy friend;
The gen'rous master of a private house,
The tender father and indulgent spouse.
The hardest censors at the worst believ'd,
His temper was too easily deceiv'd
(A consequential ill good-nature draws,
A bad effect, but from a noble cause).
Whence, then, these clamours of a judging crowd?
Suspicious, griping, insolent, and proud --
Rapacious, cruel, violent, unjust;
False to his friend, and traitor to his trust? 

1. Addressed to ------, 1736
2. Epigram, 1734
3. The Fourth Ode of the First Book of Horace Imitated
4. Epistle from Arthur Grey, the Footman, to Mrs. Murray, after His Condemnation for Attempting to Comm
5. Epilogue to Mary Queen of Scots

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