University of Virginia Library

In Commendation of Vertue.

Vertue, thou Ornament of Humane Life,
That Crowns the Virgin, and Adorns the Wife,
From thy Blest Treasure of Contentments flow
All the true Blessings we enjoy below.
Those Sweet Delights, which in thy Bosom dwell,
Rise up in Springs, and into Rivers swell,
Which know no Ebb, or Storm, but free from Noise,
Flow Calmly in a constant Tide of Joys:
Thou bring'st Contentment to the Meanest Birth,
And gives us Taste of Heaven here on Earth:
From whence, thro' Christal Innocence, we see
A pleasing Prospect of Eternity;
Where Angels, to receive the Vertuous, wait,
And bid them Welcome to a Happier State.
When Vice hath drest her Wanton Daughters Head,
With Tresses loose, in Airy Modes Displaid.
Complection heighten'd, and improv'd by Paint,
And all the Arts that Pride could e're invent:
Yet Vertue in plain Coif, adorn'd no way
By Nature, looks so Innocently Gay:
She in her Homespun Garb shines brighter far than they.
As Precious Gems, of which the India's boast,
The plainer set, the greater Lustre cast.
Vertue, like Beauty, wants no Study'd Smile,
But of it self shines bright without a Foil.
Could the Corrupted World but truly tast
The Sweet Delights which Vicious Actions Blast,
Their Lewd Excesses they'd repeat no more,
Their Counterfeit Enjoyments soon give o'er
To Gaze at Vertues Beams, and the Chast Dame Adore.
'Tis she emboldens us to fear no Fate,
And gives Contentment to the meanest State.
Closely Embrac'd, she Blesses each Degree
With a Calm Mind, from Perturbations free,
And, by Content, Improves Felicity.
Would all Mankind her pleasing foot-steps tread,
Which do to Truth, and all Perfections lead,
Sexes would join, as Angels do above,
Not to Fulfil their Lust, but Seal their Love.