Lambert’s illness

Introduction by Hester Thrale

The Summer of the same Year1 Lambert the famous Scene-painter was ill—I sent the following Lines in a feigned hand to his & my Friend Herbert Lawrence2 who never knew they were mine

Is Lambert sick Apollo said,
Haste Lawrence haste to Lambert’s aid !
For tho’ his grateful Shepherd pays
The Life he gave—with deathless Praise,
Tho’ in each Sun his Virtue glows
While in each Stream his Bounty flows;
Tho’ his unruffled Mind is seen
In his Calm Fishponds pale serene:
One luckless Stroke may ruin all,
The Scene may Change and Lambert fall.

Written by Hester Lynch Thrale in 1758.
Thraliana entry dated June 1777. 1 = Written immediately after 1758 verses To a Lady on April Fool Day
2 = a surgeon and apothecary Hester Thrale's spelling, grammar and capitalisation, some of which may not conform to today's standards, are reproduced faithfully throughout.