Possibly a song's lyrics?

[Stanwix England]

I think it's something like

Lovely babe I welcome thee

Blank with thy life and blank be

I've also tried looking for something similar but with no success.

[Bookbox]

Bright thy life as sunbeams be

Haste thee, beauteous babe, and grow [?]

(Would be good to see if the end of the next line rhymes with 'grow')

[Wiggy]

Hooray  -   bookbox - that makes sense!

Wiggy.     

[Peter L. Mitchell]

That's great, everyone.

I agree with Bookbox: "Bright thy life as sunbeams be"; and I'm fairly confident "Haste thee, beauteous babe, and grow" is correct.

The top line is a bit of a puzzle. I don't think it's " . . . an only . . ." because Elizabeth (the authoress) was the second daughter in the family. Her sister was a year older when this was written. It did occur to me that it might be an example of sibling rivalry/wishful thinking, though. It's a bit hard to tell 187 years later!

Thanks

Peter

[Wiggy]

And do you have the next line for Bookbox?   

 . . . .  And does it rhyme with 'grow'?

[alpinecottage]

First line; To new baby daughter?

As much a guess at something that would fit as anything else!

[Peter L. Mitchell]

In response to Wiggy's query. here are the next four lines. All ideas welcome!

[arthurk]

Gladsome girl, with eyes of sloe.
And let jetty ringlets fall (jetty? - like jet, ie black??)
Down thy snowy neck withal;
And let ruby radiance streak

(Next line surely ends with 'cheek')

[PurdeyB]

Gladsome girl, with eyes of sloe.
And let jetty ringlets fall (jetty? - like jet, ie black??)
Down thy snowy neck withal;
And let ruby radiance streak

(Next line surely ends with 'cheek')

Could it be pretty ringlets? Jet is very Victorian but I've never heard jetty in that context...although admittedly it does look more like a j or a g than a p.