 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
242
The DIFFERENT MEDIUMS.
Ned
with his comrade Dick disputes
What Simile the aptest suits,
In striking colours to declare
The various passions of the Fair.
What Simile the aptest suits,
In striking colours to declare
The various passions of the Fair.
“No Simile so very pat
“To me appears, as that of—Cat,”
Cries Ned: “Tho' thousand proofs arise,
“A few, I fancy, may suffice.
“To me appears, as that of—Cat,”
Cries Ned: “Tho' thousand proofs arise,
“A few, I fancy, may suffice.
“Women, when young, are frisky, gay,
“Quite kittenish, and full of play;
“When riper grown—in Love or Wit
“Like Cats they're apt to scrat and spit.
“Quite kittenish, and full of play;
“When riper grown—in Love or Wit
“Like Cats they're apt to scrat and spit.
“By ancient Bards it has been said,
“A Cat was turn'd into a Maid:
“May we not from that fountain trace
“Our modern skittish, cattish race?
“A Cat was turn'd into a Maid:
“May we not from that fountain trace
“Our modern skittish, cattish race?
“The fierceness of a Cat is seen
“Whene'er you raise a Woman's spleen;
“This hour she purrs in friendly note,
“The next she fastens on your throat:
“Still in extremes, like Cats they shew,
“Whether they scrat, or purr, or mew.
“Whene'er you raise a Woman's spleen;
“This hour she purrs in friendly note,
“The next she fastens on your throat:
“Still in extremes, like Cats they shew,
“Whether they scrat, or purr, or mew.
“'Tis thought that Cats have got nine lives:
“Some husbands think so of their wives.
“Some husbands think so of their wives.
243
“Blasphemer, hold—(cries Dick) for shame!
“Nor thus the Angel-sex defame:
“If aught beneath high Heav'n can bear
“To stand as Emblem to the Fair,
“The Dove—the Turtle Dove alone,
“Must in that favour'd light be shewn.
“Nor thus the Angel-sex defame:
“If aught beneath high Heav'n can bear
“To stand as Emblem to the Fair,
“The Dove—the Turtle Dove alone,
“Must in that favour'd light be shewn.
“How sweetly Women bill and coo!
“How loving, tender, and how true!
“No gall finds room within their breast,
“There Turtle Love erects his nest;
“Ev'n when they most displeas'd appear,
“The Turtle's plaintive moan we hear.
“How loving, tender, and how true!
“No gall finds room within their breast,
“There Turtle Love erects his nest;
“Ev'n when they most displeas'd appear,
“The Turtle's plaintive moan we hear.
“When dire Misfortune's baleful smart,
“Has flutter'd little Tommy's heart,
“In his lov'd Mate he constant finds
“A sov'reign balm for wounded minds;
“She curves, and with encircling wings
“Looks, cooes, and acts such tender things,
“Grief's banish'd—and the conscious Grove,
“Re-murmurs with their mutual love:—
“With Dove-like sweetness thus the Fair
“Guards Man against the Fiend Despair:
“She smiles, she speaks, and each caress
“She mixes with such tenderness,
“Misfortune's darts no more annoy,
“But all is Love, and rapt'rous Joy.
“Has flutter'd little Tommy's heart,
“In his lov'd Mate he constant finds
“A sov'reign balm for wounded minds;
“She curves, and with encircling wings
“Looks, cooes, and acts such tender things,
“Grief's banish'd—and the conscious Grove,
“Re-murmurs with their mutual love:—
“With Dove-like sweetness thus the Fair
“Guards Man against the Fiend Despair:
“She smiles, she speaks, and each caress
“She mixes with such tenderness,
“Misfortune's darts no more annoy,
“But all is Love, and rapt'rous Joy.
“In Patience nothing can compare
“With Turtle Doves—except the Fair.
“With Turtle Doves—except the Fair.
244
“Pray, what are Venus and her Doves,
“But Emblems of their Charms and Loves?
“But Emblems of their Charms and Loves?
“Why are the Virtues sex'd as Fair?
“Women than Men more virtuous are.
“Women than Men more virtuous are.
“In short, in ev'ry thing they do,
“Whether they murmur, bill or coo,
“Women are Turtles, galless, kind, and true.
“Whether they murmur, bill or coo,
“Women are Turtles, galless, kind, and true.
Ned laugh'd aloud; then sighing said,
“You're single, Dick—but I am wed.”
“You're single, Dick—but I am wed.”
Thro' different Mediums to Men's eyes,
How widely different things appear!
While Juggler Prejudice supplies
The different Spectacles we wear.
How widely different things appear!
While Juggler Prejudice supplies
The different Spectacles we wear.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |