Matthew Prior addresses little Lady Margaret — “Peggy” — with the warmth of a doting family friend or relative. He sends this playful verse as a first letter, urging her to lift heart and hands in prayer at dawn and dusk, and adding a sweet, cosmopolitan touch: she should say the Lord’s Prayer in both English and French (“Our Father first, then Notre Pere”). Along with these daily devotions, he asks her to obey and please “my lord and lady,” probably her parents, in everything she does and says. The speaker’s tone is gentle and encouraging, full of affection and a soft sparkle of humor — you can hear the smile in the rhyme of “pretty Peggy” and “First Epistle beg ye.” If Peggy follows these simple precepts, he promises no second letter will be necessary, and signs off as her “constant friend.” The whole poem feels like a cozy, old-fashioned embrace, blending playful formality with genuine care.
A Letter to Lady Margaret Cavendish Holles-Harley, when a Child — Summary
MY noble, lovely, little Peggy, Let this my First Epistle beg ye, At dawn of morn, and close of even, To lift your heart and hands to Heaven. In double duty say your prayer: Our Father first, then Notre Pere.
And, dearest child, along the day, In every thing you do and say, Obey and please my lord and lady, So God shall love and angels aid ye.
If to these precepts you attend, No second letter need I send, And so I rest your constant friend.