In The Album Of A French Teacher

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Title:     In The Album Of A French Teacher
Author: Charles Lamb [More Titles by Lamb]

Implored for verse, I send you what I can;
But you are so exact a Frenchwoman,
As I am told, Jemima, that I fear
To wound with English your Parisian ear,
And think I do your choice collection wrong
With lines not written in the Frenchman's tongue.
Had I a knowledge equal to my will,
With airy _Chansons_ I your leaves would fill;
With _Fabliaux_, that should emulate the vein
Of sprightly Cresset, or of La Fontaine;
Or _Scenes Comiques_, that should approach the air
Of your own favourite--renowned Moliere.
But at my suit the Muse of France looks sour,
And strikes me dumb! Yet, what is in my power
To testify respect for you, I pray,
Take in plain English--our rough Enfield way.

[The end]
Charles Lamb's poem: In The Album Of A French Teacher

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