title: Acrostic, On Miss (Maria Martin)
author: Henry Livingston Jr.
date: 1794
source: New-York Weekly Museum, 1794 (site gives both 9 Aug 1794 and 9 Oct 1794), signed R. URL: https://www.henrylivingston.com/writing/poetry/acrostic.htm (fetched via https://web.archive.org/web/20250522014527/https://www.henrylivingston.com/writing/poetry/acrostic.htm)
form: iambic pentameter (acrostic)
lines: 11
attribution: probable
notes: Light acrostic on MARIA MARTIN. Not in MS; attributed by pseudonym R. Site heading/headnote: For the WEEKLY MUSEUM. | ACROSTIC, On Miss

M UCH I admire, thou loveliest of the fair,
A wake or sleep -- thou art my only care,
R ising or falling -- no beauty can I see,
(I can see none) except 'tis lovely thee,
A nd on thee rests my whole felicity.

M ust I admire again -- I must and will,
A nd think on thee whole charms so often kill.
R eturn the love which glows within my breast,
T ake pity on a heart, which knows no rest;
I can no longer brook thy lovely scorn,
N or can I live, and living, live forlorn.