So Papists refuse
The Bible to use,
Lest flocks should be wise as their guide.
'Twas a woman at first
(Indeed she was curst)
In knowledge that tasted delight;
And sages agree
The laws should decree
To the first of possessors the right.
Then bravely, fair dame,
Resume the old claim
Which to your whole sex does belong ;
And let men receive,
From a second bright Eve,
The knowledge of right and of wrong.
But if the first Eve
Hard doom did receive,
When only one apple had she;
What punishment new
Shall be found out for you,
Who, tasting, have robb'd the whole tree? 30
BEGONE, ye critic, and restrain your spite;
Codrus writes on, and will for ever write.
The heaviest Muse the swiftest course has gone;
As clocks run fastest when most lead is on.
What though no bees around your cradle flew,
Nor on your lips distill'd their golden dew;
Yet have we oft discover'd in their stead
A swarm of drones that buzz'd about your head.
When you, like Orpheus, strike the warbling lyre,
Attentive blocks stand round you and admire. 10
Wit pass'd through thee no longer is the same,
As meat digested takes a different name;
But sense must sure thy safest plunder be,
Since no reprisals can be made on thee.
Thus thou may'st rise; and in thy daring flight, Though ne'er so weighty, reach a wondrous height:
So, forced from engines, lead itself can fly,
And ponderous slugs move nimbly through the
sky.
Sure Bavius copied Mævius to the full,
And Chærilus* taught Codrus to be dull:
Therefore, dear friend, at my advice give o'er
This needless labour; and contend no more
To prove a dull succession' to be true;
Since 'tis enough we find it so in you.
ON RECEIVING FROM
LADY FRANCES SHIRLEY+
A STANDISH AND TWO PENS.
YES, I beheld the Athenian queen
Descend in all her sober charms;
And 'take,' she said, and smiled serene,
"Take at this hand celestial arms :
Secure the radiant weapons wield:
This golden lance shall guard desert;
And if a vice dares keep the field,
This steel shall stab it to the heart.'
* Probably Shadwell.
+ A celebrated beauty, fourth daughter of the Earl of Ferrers.
Awed, on my bended knees I fell;
Received the weapons of the sky;
And dipp'd them in the sable well,
The fount of fame or infamy.
'What well? what weapon?' Flavia cries:
'A standish, steel and golden pen!
It came from Bertrand's,* not the skies;
I gave it you to write again.
'But, friend, take heed whom you attack;
You'll bring a house, I mean of peers,
Red, blue, and green, nay, white and black,
L- and all, about your ears.
'You'd write as smooth again on glass;
And run, on ivory, so glib,
As not to stick at fool or ass,
Nor stop at flattery or fib.
"Athenian queen!" and "sober charms!"
I tell ye, fool, there's nothing in 't :
'Tis Venus, Venus gives these arms;
In Dryden's Virgil see the print.
'Come, if you'll be a quiet soul,
That dares tell neither truth nor lies,
I'll 'list you in the harmless roll
Of those that sing of these poor eyes.'
ON A CERTAIN LADY AT COURT.†
I KNOW the thing that's most uncommon ;— (Envy be silent, and attend!)
I know a reasonable woman,
Handsome and witty, yet a friend:
A famous toy-shop at Bath.
+ Mrs. Howard, of Marble-hill, bed-chamber woman to Queen Caroline, and afterwards Countess of Suffolk.
Not warp'd by passion, awed by rumour;
Not grave through pride, or gay through folly; An equal mixture of good humour,
And sensible soft melancholy.
'Has she no faults then,' Envy says, 'sir?'
Yes, she has one, I must aver:
When all the world conspires to praise her,
The woman's deaf, and does not hear.
ON HIS GROTTO AT TWICKENHAM,
MARBLES, SPARS, GEMS, ORES, AND MINERALS.
THOU who shalt stop, where Thames' translucent
Shines a broad mirror through the shadowy cave;
Where lingering drops from mineral roofs distil,
And pointed crystals break the sparkling rill,
Unpolish'd gems no ray on pride bestow,
And latent metals innocently glow ;-
Approach! Great Nature studiously behold,
And eye the mine without a wish for gold.
Approach: but awful! Lo! the Egerian grot, 9
Where, nobly pensive, St. John* sat and thought;
Where British sighs from dying Wyndham + stole,
And the bright flame was shot through March-
mont's soul.
Let such, such only, tread this sacred floor,
Who dare to love their country, and be poor.
* Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke.
+ Sir William Wyndham.
ON THE COUNTESS OF BURLINGTON
CUTTING PAPER.
PALLAS grew vaporish once and odd;
She would not do the least right thing
Either for goddess or for god,
Nor work, nor play, nor paint, nor sing.
Jove frown'd, and 'Use,' he cried, 'those eyes
So skilful, and those hands so taper;
Do something exquisite and wise.'
She bow'd, obey'd him, and cut paper.
This vexing him who gave her birth,
Thought by all heaven a burning shame ;- 10
What does she next, but bids, on earth,
Her Burlington do just the same?
Pallas, you give yourself strange airs;
But sure you'll find it hard to spoil
The sense and taste of one that bears
The name of Saville and of Boyle!
Alas! one bad example shown,
How quickly all the sex pursue!
See, madam, see the arts o'erthrown
Between John Overton and you!
LINES WRITTEN IN WINDSOR FOREST.
ALL hail, once pleasing, once inspiring shade!
Scene of my youthful loves, and happier hours!
Where the kind Muses met me as I stray'd,
And gently press'd my hand, and said, 'Be ours!-
Take all thou e'er shalt have, a constant Muse :
At Court thou may'st be liked, but nothing gain :
Stock thou may'st buy and sell, but always lose,
And love the brightest eyes, but love in vain.'
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