| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909. | | | | The Second Marriage | | By Samuel Bishop (1731–1795) |
| | | ‘THEE, Mary, with this ring I wed,’ | |
| So, fourteen years ago, I said— | |
| Behold another ring!—‘For what?’ | |
| ‘To wed thee o’er again—why not?’ | |
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| With that first ring I married Youth, | 5 |
| Grace, Beauty, Innocence, and Truth; | |
| Taste long admir’d, sense long rever’d, | |
| And all my Molly then appear’d. | |
| If she, by merit since disclosed, | |
| Prove twice the woman I suppos’d, | 10 |
| I plead that double merit now, | |
| To justify a double vow. | |
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| Here then, to-day, (with faith as sure, | |
| With ardour as intense and pure, | |
| As when, amidst the rites divine, | 15 |
| I took thy troth, and plighted mine), | |
| To thee, sweet girl, my second ring | |
| A token, and a pledge, I bring; | |
| With this I wed, till death us part, | |
| Thy riper virtues to my heart; | 20 |
| These virtues, which, before untry’d, | |
| The wife has added to the bride; | |
| Those virtues, whose progressive claim | |
| Endearing wedlock’s very name, | |
| My soul enjoys, my song approves, | 25 |
| For Conscience’s sake, as well as Love’s. | |
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| For why?—They show me every hour, | |
| Honour’s high thought, affection’s power, | |
| Discretion’s deed, sound Judgment’s sentence, | |
| And teach me all things—but Repentance. | 30 | | | |
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