 | Poetical Trifles |  |
92
FALSE BLUSHES.
“Te lanæ prope nobilem
Tonsœ Luceriam, non citharæ decent,
Nec flos purpureus rosæ,
Nec poti, vetulam, fæce tenus cadi.”
Hor.
Tonsœ Luceriam, non citharæ decent,
Nec flos purpureus rosæ,
Nec poti, vetulam, fæce tenus cadi.”
Hor.
Of all the mad fashions that wild folly contrives
To pamper the passions, of this frolicksome age;
There's no greater jest, than when an old woman strives,
To conceal by false blushes the years of her age.
To pamper the passions, of this frolicksome age;
There's no greater jest, than when an old woman strives,
To conceal by false blushes the years of her age.
Ages of simplicity! how far are ye gone,
When no furrow'd wrinkle was e'er deem'd a disgrace;
When no cozening patches of rouge were laid on,
To smirch over the havoc time makes in the face.
When no furrow'd wrinkle was e'er deem'd a disgrace;
When no cozening patches of rouge were laid on,
To smirch over the havoc time makes in the face.
93
Blest times of our Ancestors, oh! were ye renew'd,
What disdain would ye feel such buffon'ry to see!
Ye bright beldams of fashion, how would ye be view'd,
Say what an empty bundle of folly you'd be.
What disdain would ye feel such buffon'ry to see!
Ye bright beldams of fashion, how would ye be view'd,
Say what an empty bundle of folly you'd be.
Who can refrain from the smiling sneer of contempt,
To find hoary age mimick the airs of gay youth?
And how despicably vain to see it attempt,
To daub up the deep furrows that tell the sad truth!
To find hoary age mimick the airs of gay youth?
And how despicably vain to see it attempt,
To daub up the deep furrows that tell the sad truth!
O! would they be pleasing with apt decorous charms,
Such as become most the long experience of time;
Why, let them desist from sad expressive alarms,
When their sallow complexions with youth cannot chime.
Such as become most the long experience of time;
Why, let them desist from sad expressive alarms,
When their sallow complexions with youth cannot chime.
E'er let them assume what is congenial to age,
Rejecting all the blushes of jilting coquets;
Then if they witch not with the charms of their visage,
They escape from the censure old folly begets.
Rejecting all the blushes of jilting coquets;
Then if they witch not with the charms of their visage,
They escape from the censure old folly begets.
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