 | Poems |  |
Mrs. ABINGTON.
Led on by Thalia, with dignified mien,
Behold sportive Fashion's superlative queen!
Illustrious Abington stampt at her birth
The touchstone of splendor, and daughter of Mirth;
A barrier which Elegance rais'd in our days,
To stop the wild progress of barbarous ways;
Like the Belgian dykes, all their force to withstand,
And shut out their ruinous streams from the land.
This nymph, all abundant, has Science supply'd,
For, when God gave her atoms, he gave them with pride;
And, her frame holds a heart of the noblest texture,
Where Virtue retir'd when Infamy vext her:
As the Phœnix creates when the Phœnix expires,
Thus Abington issued from Woffington's fires!
Behold sportive Fashion's superlative queen!
Illustrious Abington stampt at her birth
The touchstone of splendor, and daughter of Mirth;
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To stop the wild progress of barbarous ways;
Like the Belgian dykes, all their force to withstand,
And shut out their ruinous streams from the land.
This nymph, all abundant, has Science supply'd,
For, when God gave her atoms, he gave them with pride;
116
Where Virtue retir'd when Infamy vext her:
As the Phœnix creates when the Phœnix expires,
Thus Abington issued from Woffington's fires!
117
Ere Taste can establish her motley dominion,
She resorts to gay Frances to know her opinion,
And supplicates Abington every season,
For her smiles, as a passport, to visit our reason.
Like a pine, tall and straight, she approaches the skies,
But her height awakes Envy to question her size,
And subjects her form to each poisonous gale
Which escapes the low brambles that creep in the vale.
Like the moon in her orb, she diffuses her light,
To emblazon the scene, and give Beauty to sight;
As venomous reptiles antipathis'd gaze,
And yelp at her splendor, tho' lit by her rays,
But, untouch'd by their breath, of her honors unshorn,
She smiles on their malice with dignified scorn;
That heave of her bosom sweet Sympathy taught,
When Pity assum'd the command of her thought,
And with tender conceits did its tablet impress,
Which lead her to Want, and, when led, bid her bless;
'Tis then that her acting vast benefit draws,
Where the wretched and heaven alone give applause!
She resorts to gay Frances to know her opinion,
And supplicates Abington every season,
For her smiles, as a passport, to visit our reason.
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But her height awakes Envy to question her size,
And subjects her form to each poisonous gale
Which escapes the low brambles that creep in the vale.
Like the moon in her orb, she diffuses her light,
To emblazon the scene, and give Beauty to sight;
As venomous reptiles antipathis'd gaze,
And yelp at her splendor, tho' lit by her rays,
But, untouch'd by their breath, of her honors unshorn,
She smiles on their malice with dignified scorn;
That heave of her bosom sweet Sympathy taught,
When Pity assum'd the command of her thought,
And with tender conceits did its tablet impress,
Which lead her to Want, and, when led, bid her bless;
'Tis then that her acting vast benefit draws,
Where the wretched and heaven alone give applause!
119
That bard's doubly blest in Elysium's gay bowers,
Whose wit-woven scenes are illum'd by her powers:
There Congreve beholds, proud, elate, and delighted,
New graces beyond what his pen has indited:
Then his wit, like some knives in the Birmingham trade,
Is valued much more for the handle than blade;
And her system of sense makes so pleasing a whole,
That her mind seems divine, and her body all soul.
In arch Estifania, by thinking refin'd,
She moves and attempers the springs of the mind,
Gives new point to the jest, as it flies on the wing,
Adds force to its vigour, and sharpens its sting.
She spreads comic salt o'er her moods and her tenses,
Which, like spices in soup, hide the meat from our senses;
But our lips hail with rapture such pleasant expedients,
And smack, and re-smack, with the zest of ingredients.
In prating Soubrettes she defies competition;
In the broad paths of fashion adds ease to condition.
From the gay, well-bred Charlotte, in Cibber's light page,
To the pert Roxalana, that gladdens the stage;
From the high-seasoned slices of Beaumont's sirloin,
To the witless bon mots of the studious Burgoyne.
When she sinks into Phillis, her high-polish'd mind,
Seems crampt, and coerc'd, and debas'd, and confin'd:
Like a valuable pearl in the womb of an oyster,
Or Madame Victoire in the cells of a cloister;
Or Alfred when eating his soup with a hind,
Contracting the scale of his patriot mind,
To hide from the peasant his cares and his crosses;
Or thundering Jove when the guest of poor Baucis:
Or Apollo when scoff'd by the base-born Damætas,
Or the pimp of the skies, when the herd of Admetus.
Whose wit-woven scenes are illum'd by her powers:
There Congreve beholds, proud, elate, and delighted,
New graces beyond what his pen has indited:
Then his wit, like some knives in the Birmingham trade,
Is valued much more for the handle than blade;
And her system of sense makes so pleasing a whole,
That her mind seems divine, and her body all soul.
In arch Estifania, by thinking refin'd,
She moves and attempers the springs of the mind,
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Adds force to its vigour, and sharpens its sting.
She spreads comic salt o'er her moods and her tenses,
Which, like spices in soup, hide the meat from our senses;
But our lips hail with rapture such pleasant expedients,
And smack, and re-smack, with the zest of ingredients.
In prating Soubrettes she defies competition;
In the broad paths of fashion adds ease to condition.
From the gay, well-bred Charlotte, in Cibber's light page,
To the pert Roxalana, that gladdens the stage;
From the high-seasoned slices of Beaumont's sirloin,
To the witless bon mots of the studious Burgoyne.
When she sinks into Phillis, her high-polish'd mind,
Seems crampt, and coerc'd, and debas'd, and confin'd:
Like a valuable pearl in the womb of an oyster,
Or Madame Victoire in the cells of a cloister;
Or Alfred when eating his soup with a hind,
Contracting the scale of his patriot mind,
121
Or thundering Jove when the guest of poor Baucis:
Or Apollo when scoff'd by the base-born Damætas,
Or the pimp of the skies, when the herd of Admetus.
She gracefully trips on Propriety's toe,
And walks, talks, and triumphs at will comme il faut;
The bosom of Feeling with truth she impresses,
And steals all our senses; but, stealing them, blesses.
Like a wond'rous magician she sports with our being,
And turns into doubt e'en the act that we're seeing;
With poignant impertinence marks her whole face,
And says brilliant nothings with infinite grace!
And walks, talks, and triumphs at will comme il faut;
The bosom of Feeling with truth she impresses,
And steals all our senses; but, stealing them, blesses.
Like a wond'rous magician she sports with our being,
And turns into doubt e'en the act that we're seeing;
With poignant impertinence marks her whole face,
And says brilliant nothings with infinite grace!
The vigils of Falshood, and all her base train,
Have fail'd to embitter her moments with pain;
Array'd with the armour of Peace round her heart,
She smiles at Contumely's venomous dart;
Shakes the habits of Hatred with scorn from her mind,
And like Taurus' high forehead looks down on mankind.
Have fail'd to embitter her moments with pain;
Array'd with the armour of Peace round her heart,
She smiles at Contumely's venomous dart;
Shakes the habits of Hatred with scorn from her mind,
And like Taurus' high forehead looks down on mankind.
It is her's to correct the ill humours of Pride,
And bid all the channels of Weakness subside;
As Virtue's chief minion to blazon her cause,
Enforce her behest, and promulgate her laws.
Like Saint Raphael's gay tints, when he portray'd a story,
Her toils touch the summit of sublunar glory;
Like Sweden's Christina, her honor'd existence,
Has nerv'd female worth against critic resistance:
As Servius Tullus, the flame of Ambition,
Lick'd the nymph when a child, and sublim'd her condition.
And bid all the channels of Weakness subside;
As Virtue's chief minion to blazon her cause,
Enforce her behest, and promulgate her laws.
Like Saint Raphael's gay tints, when he portray'd a story,
Her toils touch the summit of sublunar glory;
Like Sweden's Christina, her honor'd existence,
Has nerv'd female worth against critic resistance:
As Servius Tullus, the flame of Ambition,
Lick'd the nymph when a child, and sublim'd her condition.
122
Irresistible Fate, to her character kind,
But steals from her dimples—to add to her mind;
If her beauties recede, yet shall Envy confess,
That to brighten the greater he takes from the less:
So governing Jove calls the streams into motion,
And empties the river, to strengthen the ocean,
Like Ninon de l'Enclos, this elegant dame,
Can charm human-kind by her wit or her frame;
She gracefully parries the evils of Time,
And, the older she grows, is the more in her prime;
For Merit shall court her, and Foplings implore,
When her ringlets are ting'd with the dyes of threescore.
But steals from her dimples—to add to her mind;
If her beauties recede, yet shall Envy confess,
That to brighten the greater he takes from the less:
So governing Jove calls the streams into motion,
And empties the river, to strengthen the ocean,
Like Ninon de l'Enclos, this elegant dame,
Can charm human-kind by her wit or her frame;
She gracefully parries the evils of Time,
And, the older she grows, is the more in her prime;
For Merit shall court her, and Foplings implore,
When her ringlets are ting'd with the dyes of threescore.
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