[If Slander sting thy swelling heart]
[If Slander sting thy swelling heart] [1]
If Slander sting thy swelling heart
Let this assuage the cruel woe,
The Wasp still turns his venom'd dart
'Gainst sweetest flowers that brightest glow.

Notes
[1] EDITOR'S NOTE: "If Slander sting thy swelling heart" does not appear in Psyche, with Other Poems or Mary (or Collected Poems and Journals) and is not dated in Verses; although it follows the meter and rhyme scheme of "See while the Juggler Pleasure smiles," it appears to be a separate poem. The E.I. Fox transcription of this poem in the Belfast Public Library titles it "La Guêpe" ("The Wasp") and prints it on a separate page before (rather than after) "See while the Juggler Pleasure smiles," there titled Stanza's." BACK