 | Original poems on several subjects |  |
To Miss J---y ---
J---y was once the sweetest maid
That grac'd the sprightly dance;
The air how artless she display'd!
How innocent each glance!
That grac'd the sprightly dance;
The air how artless she display'd!
How innocent each glance!
But when the senseless fopling tribe
Around her airy tript,
And, J---y's beauties to describe,
Their pens in flattery dipt;
Around her airy tript,
And, J---y's beauties to describe,
Their pens in flattery dipt;
Then all the little shifts of Art
Were practis'd o'er and o'er,
To do, prepost'rously expert,
What Nature did before.
Were practis'd o'er and o'er,
To do, prepost'rously expert,
What Nature did before.
311
She still will admiration raise,
Who from its gaze withdraws;
To seem insensible of praise,
Is to deserve applause.
Who from its gaze withdraws;
To seem insensible of praise,
Is to deserve applause.
Let not a compliment, that owes
Its merit to a lie,
More kind the censure of your foes,
Gain strength by your reply.
Its merit to a lie,
More kind the censure of your foes,
Gain strength by your reply.
Let no vain, prattling, tinseld youth,
Pert, ignorant, and raw,
Who but, when silent, tells the truth,
Your kind attention draw.
Pert, ignorant, and raw,
Who but, when silent, tells the truth,
Your kind attention draw.
The poor expedients us'd by Art,
Like the cheek's borrow'd dye,
Can never fix the wise man's heart,
Though they may catch his eye.
Like the cheek's borrow'd dye,
Can never fix the wise man's heart,
Though they may catch his eye.
Your truest graces Virtue sums,
In gentle, soft, and meek;
Disdain, or pride, but ill becomes
The dimply virgin cheek.
In gentle, soft, and meek;
Disdain, or pride, but ill becomes
The dimply virgin cheek.
312
Let J---y then assume that ease
Which charm'd the world before;
The less she anxious strives to please,
She still will please the more.
Which charm'd the world before;
The less she anxious strives to please,
She still will please the more.
Of self-complacence O beware!
O listen not to some men,
Who call you most divinely fair,
But wish you less than woman!
O listen not to some men,
Who call you most divinely fair,
But wish you less than woman!
And O forgive the bard, the while
Such maxims he lays down;
Though he may J---y wish to smile,
He can survive her frown.
Such maxims he lays down;
Though he may J---y wish to smile,
He can survive her frown.
| Original poems on several subjects | |