 | Poems |  |
Miss POPE.
Who's that bustling female—so careful to tread
With precision and rule, and a shake of the head;
'Tis Thalia's old handmaid, the excellent Pope,
Whose wishes have stray'd o'er the precincts of hope.
See Fretfulness sits on the tip of her nose,
And rouge on her cheek has reviv'd that gay rose
Which pain and anxiety long since had faded,
When Love's genial flame her young bosom invaded.
With precision and rule, and a shake of the head;
'Tis Thalia's old handmaid, the excellent Pope,
Whose wishes have stray'd o'er the precincts of hope.
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And rouge on her cheek has reviv'd that gay rose
Which pain and anxiety long since had faded,
When Love's genial flame her young bosom invaded.
In tattling old spinsters she now has no equal,
(But that is a truth will be felt in the sequel;
When, laden with honours, and wounded by age,
The veteran Fair bids adieu to the Stage.)
A key to their follies, she's got by affinity,
And knows all the struggles of hapless virginity;
The colours that mark them on Hope's dark privation,
Their yellow despondence, and green desperation:
The flirt of the fan, when young beauties are near 'em,
Their high-born disdain, if keen satire should fleer 'em;
Those evils unnumber'd which goad them each hour,
And the talent to rail at the grapes—which are sour.
(But that is a truth will be felt in the sequel;
When, laden with honours, and wounded by age,
The veteran Fair bids adieu to the Stage.)
A key to their follies, she's got by affinity,
And knows all the struggles of hapless virginity;
The colours that mark them on Hope's dark privation,
Their yellow despondence, and green desperation:
The flirt of the fan, when young beauties are near 'em,
Their high-born disdain, if keen satire should fleer 'em;
Those evils unnumber'd which goad them each hour,
And the talent to rail at the grapes—which are sour.
When Pleasure and Ease had seduc'd to their arms,
Convivial Clive, and the stage lost her charms;
The jest-loving muse was alarm'd at the story,
And fearing a rapid decline of her glory,
Deputed her Pope, as successor of Clive,
To keep poignant Wit and gay Laughter alive.
Convivial Clive, and the stage lost her charms;
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And fearing a rapid decline of her glory,
Deputed her Pope, as successor of Clive,
To keep poignant Wit and gay Laughter alive.
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