Poetical Fragments from Ethel Churchill Volume I/Vanity

by Letitia Elizabeth Landon

For works with similar titles, see Vanity.

FIRST LETTER OF LADY MARCHMONT TO
SIR JASPER MEREDITH.

Vanity! guiding power, 'tis thine to rule
Statesman and vestryman—the knave or fool.
The Macedonian crossed Hydaspes' wave,
Fierce as the storm, and gloomy as the grave.
Urged by the thought, what would Athenians say,
When next they gathered on a market-day?
And the same spirit that induced his toil,
Leads on the cook, to stew, and roast, and boil:
Whether the spice be mixed—the flag unfurled—
Each deems their task the glory of the world.

Blanchard’s title is:

VANITY

In The New York Mirror (3rd March 1838), as Vanity