Date: w. 1739, 1762

"Come Melancholy! silent Pow'r, / Companion of my lonely Hour, / To sober thought confin'd: / Thou sweetly-sad ideal Guest, / In all thy soothing Charms confest, / Indulge my pensive Mind."

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)

Date: w. 1739, 1762

"Ye pale Inhabitants of Night, / Before my intellectual Sight / In solemn Pomp ascend."

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)

Date: w. 1739, 1762

"Ye faithless Idols of our Sense, / Here own how vain your fond Pretence, / Ye empty Names of Joy!"

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)

Date: w. 1739, 1762

Melancholy's "transient Forms like Shadows pass, / Frail Offspring of the magic Glass, / Before the mental Eye."

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)

Date: w. 1739, 1762

"Thro' Reason's clearer Optics view'd, / How stript of all it's Pomp, how rude / Appears the painted Cheat."

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)