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| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
 | The young ladies miscellany |  |
128
[Here Youth may Profit, and Diversion find]
Here Youth may Profit, and Diversion find,Amuse their Fancy, and improve their Mind.
Here's no Loose Thought the Virtuous to displease,
Or the Least Blush in the Most Modest raise.
Our Muse is Studious to Avoid Offence,
And builds her Merit on her Innocence.
131
THE RECANTATION:
A Dialogue, BETWEEN Corydon and Sylvia.
[_]
Speakers' names have been abbreviated in this text. The abbreviations used for major characters are as follows:
- For Cor. read Corydon
- For Sylv. read Sylvia
While Sylvia sigh'd for me alone,
And prov'd as kind as she was fair;
I envy'd not the Gods their Heav'n,
But thought a brighter Heav'n was here.
132
While Corydon his Sylvia lov'd,
And Others sigh'd for him in vain;
Queens I despis'd, and on their Crowns
Look'd down with Pity and Disdain.
Cor.
Now Chloe's Song, and graceful Air,
Attracts my Ear, and charms my Eye;
For whom (would the kind Gods but spare
Her precious Life) I'd freely die.
Sylv.
Alexis too has fir'd my Breast,
And at my Feet does panting lie;
For whom (would the kind Gods but spare
His precious Life) I'd doubly die.
Cor.
But say, fair Sylvia, should I break
That Chain which Chloe has put on;
Say, should deserted Love return,
And I confess your Charms alone.
Sylv.
Then tho' he's brighter than a Star,
And thou inconstant as the Sea;
No Rival shall thy Place supply,
I'll Live and Die with thee.
133
THE Constant COUPLE:
OR, THE Protesting Lovers.
[_]
Speakers' names have been abbreviated in this text. The abbreviations used for major characters are as follows:
- For Dam. read Damon
- For Mir. read Miranda
I
Under a pleasant Myrtle's Shade,Within a silent Grove,
Young Damon and Miranda met,
And thus discours'd of Love.
Oh! My Miranda, thou'rt more fair
Than Lillies newly blown;
More soft than Cytharea's Doves,
Or the young Swan's first Down.
134
Strong as a Mountain is thy Form,
Yet gentle is thy Mind;
And thou art he, whom I alone
Can love of all Mankind.
Dam.
Was fair Oenone to revive,
And dwell upon our Plain;
To own a Love-sick Flame for me,
That Flame should rise in vain.
Mir.
Was Paris to confess my Charms,
I'd scorn the lovely Boy;
Prefer an humble Life with thee
To all the Pomp of Troy.
Dam.
For thee, Miranda, I have kept
A Lambkin in my Fold;
Apples, and Plumbs, and lovely Grapes,
With Purple streakt, and Gold.
Mir.
I have a tuneful Pipe and Crook,
(A Present made to me)
A Garland too of choicest Flowers,
Which I've preserv'd for thee.
Dam.
No Swain was ever sure possest
Of such extatic Bliss!
Oh! Let us join our Hearts and Hands,
And seal 'em with a Kiss!
135
No Nymph was ever sure so blest
With such a Swain as I!
But wilt thou ever prove thus kind,
And never from me fly?
Dam.
Fear not your Swain will e'er prove false,
Or from his Charmer rove:
When 'tis an Angel we admire,
We cannot change our Love.
XI
Thus like the first blest Pair they sat,Before their fallen State;
More proud of being kind and chast,
Than being Rich or Great.
136
THE PROCLAMATION:
A CANTATA.
Rec.From the immortal Realms above,
All drown'd in Tears the Queen of Love
On Earth descends, in hopes to find
Her vagrant Son amongst Mankind.
Thro' Paphos' Streets she Frantic flies,
And thus her little Rambler Cries.
Air.
Oh! Say, ye Men of Paphos, say,(And ease my anxious Care)
Saw ye my Cupid pass this Way?
Alas! he's lost I fear.
The generous Swain that shall reveal
Where the young Wanderer is,
Shall have from Venus the Reward
Of a transporting Kiss.
137
Amidst the Numbers numberless,
That saw, and pity'd her Distress,
The gay Alexis soon appear'd,
And thus the mournful Goddess chear'd.
Air.
No more, fair Queen, his Absence moan,Your Sighs and Tears give o'er;
The God of Love is very safe,
And from all Harms secure.
Here, here, the little Tyrant plays,
And revels in my Heart;
Encircled with a Thousand Flames,
And many a pointed Dart.
At this Joy dances in her Eyes,
And in her Cheeks new Charms arise.
With Transport he the Queen surveys,
And, fond of her soft Promise, says.
Air.
Now, beauteous Goddess, on your SwainBestow the proffer'd Kiss;
Or let it come from Chloe's Lips,
And so augment his Bliss.
138
THE ROVER:
OR, THE Way to Win Him. A SONG.
I
How tormenting's the Anguish,When the Fair pine and languish,
And too soon their Indulgence discover:
If the Nymph is complying,
The Swain ceases dying,
And the Warmth of his Passion is over.
139
II
The best Way to charm him,Is with Fears to alarm him,
To keep him in Awe, and at Distance.
By making him jealous,
She makes him more zealous,
And secures him her Slave by Resistance.
192
[Oh, Marriage! Happiest, easiest, safest State]
Oh, Marriage! Happiest, easiest, safest State;Let Debauchees and Drunkards scorn thy Rites,
Who, in their nauseous Draughts and Lusts, profane
Both thee and Heav'n, by whom thou wert ordain'd,
How can the Savage call it Loss of Freedom,
Thus to converse with, thus to gaze at
A faithful, beauteous Friend?
Blush not, my Fair One, that thy Love applauds thee.
Nor be it painful to my wedded Wife,
That my full Heart o'erflows in Praise of thee.
Thou art by Law, by Interest, Passion, mine:
Passion and Reason join in Love of thee.
Thus through a World of Calumny and Fraud,
We pass both unreproach'd, both undeceiv'd:
While in each others Interest and Happiness,
We without Art all Faculties employ,
And all our Senses without Guilt enjoy.
211
LETTER VII. TO CHLOE: ON Seeing her Picture IN A GALLERY.
Madam,
As in our HemisphereThe Stars all glorious appear;
Still there are some the rest outshine.
So here all seem of Form divine:
Yet there are Graces which I view
More peculiarly in You.
212
The Controversy to decide:
Freely my Thoughts I would declare,
Tho' Pallas here, and Juno there.
Thou Venus still should'st be to me,
The Fairest Goddess of the Three.
213
LETTER VIII. TO MIRANDA: ON A VIEW OF HER Wax-Work.
Madam,
To the same Matter Nature's SkillImparts what Shapes so e'er it will,
And Love, who Jove transform'd, can make
Us Mortals various Figures take.
By a like Pow'r, Miranda, you
In Wax can several Forms renew.
214
From Chaos you, as well as she,
A perfect Beauty can create,
And make the Graces on you wait.
But first, like Love, with gentle Heat
You make it for Impression fit.
Prometheus' Art yo' already share;
Your Wax does Human Figures wear:
But if, like him, you think to give
Your Images the Pow'r to live:
You needn't steal your Fire above,
I'll furnish you with that of Love.
215
LETTER IX. Damon to Phillis:
On Hitting her, as he was Playing at Bowls.
I
That you, dear Nymph, have Charms unknown,Both I, and all the World must own;
And that they are attractive too:
But little did I think my Bowl
Would sympathetically rowl,
Where the fond Bowler us'd to do.
216
II
Had mine but been a Bowl of Gold,As was the famous One of Old
Contended for by Matchless Three;
My Wonder I had strait laid by,
And own'd I knew the Reason why
It came so readily to thee.
III
Phillis, forbear to stand so nigh;For if it only is the Eye
That to the Mark directs the Aim;
If your soft Charms attract my View,
Thither my Bowl will biass too,
And I shall surely lose my Game.
FINIS.
| The young ladies miscellany | |