Page:Poems of Anne Countess of Winchilsea 1903.djvu/34

 xxx INTRODUCTION ���supported, had I indulged myself (as was too natural to me) only in the contemplation of present and real afflictions, which I hope will plead my excuse, for turning them for relief, upon such as were imaginary, and relating to persons no more in being. �These words fairly describe the state of mind in which many of the early poems were composed. The Petition for an Absolute Retreat, A Fragment, and Lines to Lady Worsley recount Ardelia's own unhappiness. The Change, which for its gentleness and dignity, for its pathetic sweet- ness, is one of her most charming poems, is a little allegory of the selfishness and insincerity of courtiers. The obscured sun no longer followed by the flowers it had brought into being, the dried-up river deserted by the fish it had nour- ished, the ruined mansion forsaken by the guests it had cherished, are evidently but successive pictures of the dis- crowned king. The Losse commemorates the breaking of some close personal tie. Could the Urania of the poem be possibly Mary of Modena herself ? �Urania is no more, to me she is no more, �All these combined can ne'er that loss deplore. �But whoever the heroine, the genuineness of the grief cannot be questioned, a genuineness not lessened by the Shelley-like lament that grief itself is mortal. The verses On the Death of King James bring to an end the series of poems especially marked by the bitterness of the revolution. It is a long, heavy poem, in parts incomplete and crude, but it is of distinct value as showing James II. and Mary of Modena from the point of view of one of their own house- hold. �This last poem was not written till 1701, and in spite of the indignant sorrow and rebuke, the passionate loyalty, that flamed up anew in its many stanzas, the twelve years had already brought their gift of healing, and Ardelia had found at beautiful East well a more serene and deeply satisfying ��� �