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185
ODE XV. BOOK III.
TO A FADED BEAUTY.
“Uxor pauperis Ibyci.”
Dear Chloris, at an age like thine
To dance, coquet, and dress so fine,
And ape such youthful airs,
Might shock a taste not over nice,
So prithee take a friend's advice,
Repent, and say thy pray'rs.
To dance, coquet, and dress so fine,
And ape such youthful airs,
Might shock a taste not over nice,
So prithee take a friend's advice,
Repent, and say thy pray'rs.
Give o'er thy light fantastic tricks,
For coquetry at fifty-six,
Credulity disarms!
Forswear the company of beaux,
Nor thus to ridicule expose
The winter of thy charms.
For coquetry at fifty-six,
Credulity disarms!
Forswear the company of beaux,
Nor thus to ridicule expose
The winter of thy charms.
No beauty thou hast left to boast,
Though twenty years a reigning toast,
By coxcombs pledg'd aloud;
Retreat in time, give others room,
No nostrum can restore thy bloom;
Haste, Chloris! nor defraud the tomb,
Death courts thee for a shroud.
Though twenty years a reigning toast,
By coxcombs pledg'd aloud;
Retreat in time, give others room,
186
Haste, Chloris! nor defraud the tomb,
Death courts thee for a shroud.
What sprightly Phœbe, frank and free,
So well becomes, sits ill on thee,
Thou folly's doting tool;
Leave off thy pert affected prate,
Thy childish lisp, thy mincing gait,
And blush that vanity, so late,
Should make thee play the fool.
So well becomes, sits ill on thee,
Thou folly's doting tool;
Leave off thy pert affected prate,
Thy childish lisp, thy mincing gait,
And blush that vanity, so late,
Should make thee play the fool.
Ah! roll no more the leering eye
At ev'ry fop that flutters by,
Thy ogling days are past:
And mark the moral of my strain,
That beauty, though she proudly reign,
Must be dethron'd at last.
At ev'ry fop that flutters by,
Thy ogling days are past:
And mark the moral of my strain,
That beauty, though she proudly reign,
Must be dethron'd at last.
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