TO S[OPHIA] F[REND] _Acrostic_ Solemn Legends we are told Of bright female Names of old, Phyllus fair, Laodameia, Helen, but methinks Sophia Is a name of better meaning And a sort of Christian leaning. For it _Wisdom_ means, which passes Rubies, pearls, or golden masses. Ever try that Name to merit; Never quit what you inherit, Duly from your Father's spirit. TO R[OTHA] Q[UILLINAN] _Acrostic_ ROTHA, how in numbers light, Ought I to express thee? Take my meaning in its flight-- Haste imports not always slight-- And believe, I bless thee. TO S[ARAH] L[OCKE] _Acrostic_ Shall I praise a face unseen, And extol a fancied mien, Rave on visionary charm, And from shadows take alarm? Hatred hates _without a cause;_ Love may love, with more applause, Or, without a reason given, Charmed be with unknown Heaven. Keep the secrets, though, unmocked, Ever in your bosom _Locke'd_. TO M[ARY] L[OCKE] _Acrostic_ Must I write with pen unwilling And describe those graces killing Rightly, which I never saw? Yes--it is the Album's law. Let me then Invention strain On your excelling charms to feign-- Cold is Fiction? I _believe_ it Kindly, as I did receive it, Even as J.F.'s tongue did weave it. AN ACROSTIC AGAINST ACROSTICS [_To Edward Hogg_] Envy not the wretched Poet Doomed to pen these teasing strains, Wit so cramped, ah, who can show it, Are the trifles worth the pains. Rhyme compared with this were easy, Double Rhymes may not displease ye. Homer, Horace sly and caustic, Owed no fame to vile acrostic. G's, I am sure, the Readers choked with, Good men's names must not be joked with. ON BEING ASKED TO WRITE IN MISS WESTWOOD'S ALBUM