 | The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu |  |
VERSES, WRITTEN IN A GARDEN.
See how the pair of billing dovesWith open murmurs own their loves;
And, heedless of censorious eyes,
Pursue their unpolluted joys;
No fears of future want molest
The downy quiet of their nest:
No int'rest join'd the happy pair,
Securely blest in Nature's care,
While her dictates they pursue;
For constancy is Nature too.
Can all the doctrine of the schools,
Our maxims, our religious rules,
Can learning to our lives ensure,
Virtue so bright, or bliss so pure?
499
Virtue and pleasure ever blends:
In vain the Church and Court have tried
Th'united essence to divide;
Alike they find their wild mistake,
The pedant priest and giddy rake.
| The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu | |