 | Poems on several subjects |  |
Upon the fair Sex.
Hail, gen'rous Fair, who have reviv'd a thought
I have retain'd since Nature first me taught.
The fair inspire; ambitiously I long
To write on them a panegyric song.
Were my dull muse but able to indite,
My artless fingers would be swift to write
The numberless endowments of the sex,
Whose beauty none save idiots neglects.
I am surpris'd to see unthinking men,
Against the Fair, in satire, lift a pen,
Who are the hinge of love and generation,
The master-piece of Nature and Creation.
I have retain'd since Nature first me taught.
The fair inspire; ambitiously I long
To write on them a panegyric song.
Were my dull muse but able to indite,
My artless fingers would be swift to write
The numberless endowments of the sex,
Whose beauty none save idiots neglects.
I am surpris'd to see unthinking men,
Against the Fair, in satire, lift a pen,
Who are the hinge of love and generation,
The master-piece of Nature and Creation.
Man first of dust, or of red earth was made;
The woman built of that dust purify'd;
Of rarer form, more beautiful and kind;
More like to Jove; for Jove's all love, we find.
They are more colder in their constitutions
Than hated man; and so their dispositions
More temp'rate are; in them all virtues dwell;
In modesty and softness they excel.
Man made without, but she in Paradise;
In many things she has pre-eminence.
The woman built of that dust purify'd;
Of rarer form, more beautiful and kind;
More like to Jove; for Jove's all love, we find.
They are more colder in their constitutions
Than hated man; and so their dispositions
More temp'rate are; in them all virtues dwell;
In modesty and softness they excel.
Man made without, but she in Paradise;
In many things she has pre-eminence.
Sure man is of a bold and rugged nature,
Whereas the Fair's a soft and tender creature.
The seeds of love, of pity, and compassion,
Lodge in their breasts, while men are fill'd with passion.
Whereas the Fair's a soft and tender creature.
The seeds of love, of pity, and compassion,
Lodge in their breasts, while men are fill'd with passion.
69
Sure Heaven foresaw an inconveniencie
Would happen in the human progenie.
This world had been an ill-governed theatre,
If both the sexes had retain'd one nature.
Would happen in the human progenie.
This world had been an ill-governed theatre,
If both the sexes had retain'd one nature.
The fair-ones' eyes speak winning eloquence;
Their charming smiles an easy access gains
To all the corners of their husband's mind,
And calms them when they rashly are inclin'd.
Though vice, ill-nature, luxury, and toil,
The gen'ral mass of human creatures spoil;
Yet, 'mongst the best, sprung from a race refin'd,
Whose noble blood sure elevates the mind
To virtuous ends; and, by their prudence, sway
O'er common mortals taught how to obey,
Ten thousand beauties with perfections meet
To make their charms and innocence complete.
Nay, all the virtues shine forth in their charms,
While their soft breast their husband's bosom warms.
Their outward form adorn'd by art, they seem
Each as an angel, or bright seraphim,
Whose dazzling glories darken vulgar sight,
Like Sol's bright rays in his meridian height.
Their ev'ry part most obviously declare
Beauty and charms united in the Fair.
Their charming smiles an easy access gains
To all the corners of their husband's mind,
And calms them when they rashly are inclin'd.
Though vice, ill-nature, luxury, and toil,
The gen'ral mass of human creatures spoil;
Yet, 'mongst the best, sprung from a race refin'd,
Whose noble blood sure elevates the mind
To virtuous ends; and, by their prudence, sway
O'er common mortals taught how to obey,
Ten thousand beauties with perfections meet
To make their charms and innocence complete.
Nay, all the virtues shine forth in their charms,
While their soft breast their husband's bosom warms.
Their outward form adorn'd by art, they seem
Each as an angel, or bright seraphim,
Whose dazzling glories darken vulgar sight,
Like Sol's bright rays in his meridian height.
Their ev'ry part most obviously declare
Beauty and charms united in the Fair.
The comely feet that nimbly do advance,
And swiftly swim while Cloe treads the dance;
Thence to the waist a modest vail suppresses,
And hides from sight those dear forbidden places.
As when at noon, in a warm summer day,
The glorious sun his splendid beams display,
So that no eye, tho' ne'er so strong, can gaze,
Unless turn'd blind, on his meridian rays;
So these vail'd places cannot see the day;
They'd outshine the sun, and chace the light away.
Up from the waist, to where two mounts arise,
A vail betwixt where wanton Cupid lies,
These mounts contain two fountains on their tops,
Whose water's sweeter than the nectar drops.
Yet these two founts are closely seal'd, till she
Be made a mother of a progenie.
And swiftly swim while Cloe treads the dance;
Thence to the waist a modest vail suppresses,
And hides from sight those dear forbidden places.
As when at noon, in a warm summer day,
The glorious sun his splendid beams display,
So that no eye, tho' ne'er so strong, can gaze,
Unless turn'd blind, on his meridian rays;
So these vail'd places cannot see the day;
They'd outshine the sun, and chace the light away.
Up from the waist, to where two mounts arise,
A vail betwixt where wanton Cupid lies,
These mounts contain two fountains on their tops,
Whose water's sweeter than the nectar drops.
70
Be made a mother of a progenie.
The ivory neck, as Atlas, up it bears
A heaven of beauty in its various spheres.
The comely chin more sweets and beauty yields,
Than all the fragrance of the verdant fields,
Above it stands an oracle of worth,
That soon the longing lover's fate speaks forth;
Surpassing that of Delphos, which, of old,
In rustic rhymes its dark responses told:
'Tis guarded with a ruddy two-leav'd gate;
Within it stands twice sixteen knights of state,
Invulnerable, harness'd with ivory plate.
O pleasant accent! sweet melodious voice!
That charms all nature, makes all men rejoice;
Proceeding forth from this sweet hollow cave,
Such powerful sounds that can both kill and save.
The nose, the brow, the blushing cheeks, and eyes,
With beauty strike all mortals with surprize.
Their ev'ry part with nat'ral magic charms,
With secret virtue draws men to their arms.
Yet their fair forms are nothing, when compar'd
With those perfections wherewith they are stor'd.
The fairer virtues beautifie the mind,
And darken those externally that shine.
A heaven of beauty in its various spheres.
The comely chin more sweets and beauty yields,
Than all the fragrance of the verdant fields,
Above it stands an oracle of worth,
That soon the longing lover's fate speaks forth;
Surpassing that of Delphos, which, of old,
In rustic rhymes its dark responses told:
'Tis guarded with a ruddy two-leav'd gate;
Within it stands twice sixteen knights of state,
Invulnerable, harness'd with ivory plate.
O pleasant accent! sweet melodious voice!
That charms all nature, makes all men rejoice;
Proceeding forth from this sweet hollow cave,
Such powerful sounds that can both kill and save.
The nose, the brow, the blushing cheeks, and eyes,
With beauty strike all mortals with surprize.
Their ev'ry part with nat'ral magic charms,
With secret virtue draws men to their arms.
Yet their fair forms are nothing, when compar'd
With those perfections wherewith they are stor'd.
The fairer virtues beautifie the mind,
And darken those externally that shine.
The fair-one's virtues, innocence, and worth,
Inspir'd a monarch's pen to set them forth.
Inspir'd a monarch's pen to set them forth.
| Poems on several subjects | |