Pitty, the softest Attribute Above,
Title:
A Fragment of a dessign'd Poem upon Pitty, found in a little paper written with [her] own hand
Primary Text:
MS F-H 282, unpaginated sheet 122 (Heneage's diary, 1723).
Pitty, the softest Attribute Above,
The tend'rest Ofspring of endearing Love,
Blest emanation from the'Eternal Seat
The Sinners claim, the Wretches safe retreat,
The Worlds inliv'ning, beneficial Ray,
The Providential Cure, the sweet allay
To all the weaknesse, to the Wants that wear
The human Frame, and urge it to Dispair,
The Tears that dew the penetential Cheek
Kind Pitty in their silent Courses seek
Comment:
The poem reveals Finch beginning a poem by trying to define (through appositional phrases) an moral/emotional quality.
Date:
From comment on outside of MS Wellesley ("for transcribing my poems"), I suggest this is a poem begun in Finch's last year; it would seem that by 1723 when Heneage found the poem the MS Wellesley was no longer being copied into.
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