And trust me, I, my gentle dame,
Although no poet, am the same.
Would you be happy-Yes, you wou'd :
Then let the favor'd youth be good,
Else every tender thought remove,
Where there's no virtue, far be love,
But where bright glows that heavenly flame,
Virtue and love become the same.
Scorning the pert, the dull, the vain,
The wretch who thirsts for sordid gain,
Let fair sincerity and truth
Adorn thine only-favor'd youth,
To these humility be join'd,
That fairest virtue of the mind.
Mark well his looks: let them impart
The genuine fondness of the heart,
That ever in the looks appears
A fondness form'd of hopes and fears.
Mark his behaviour: love inspires
Respectful awe amidst its fires,
His trembling hand to yours when join'd,
Speaks the soft awe that fills his mind,
His words, his actions should proclaim
A pure, a true, and real flame.
Be sure let cheerfulness divine Inspire the heart that's made for thine,
For that, when join'd with manly sense,
Pleasures perpetual will dispense.
These virtues let us now unite
To place them in the fairest light,
And see how lovely they'll appear:-
He must be good, must be sincere,
Be true, be humble, and his love
Be pure as virtue may approve,
Respectful fondness must he show,
And round him cheerfulness must throw
Her pleasing light, her beams divine,
To make his virtues brighter shine.
Thus have I drawn th' ideal man
That may deserve deserving FAN.
And know you none whom this is like?
None where resemblance strong may strike?
Or is there this distinguish'd one?-
Be he or not as yet unknown,
Have him, my lovely Maid, or none.
On foreign or on English ground
If this deserving youth be found,
In whom these merits all combine,
Bring him to me to make him thine :
I'll exercise my magic powers,
And date from thence your happiest hours.
But if, rejecting my advice,
As fancy's form, and over-nice,
To one unlike you'll give your charms,
And take th' unworthy to your arms,
Trust me, my office I'll decline;
The hateful deed shall ne'er be mine,
Merit, with all its charms, to give
Where there's no merit to receive
[GOING TO BATHE IN THE SEA.]
VENUS, most histories agree,
Sprung from the ferment of the sea;
Yet I confess I'm always loth
To think such beauty was but froth,
Or that the ocean which more odd is,
Should from a bubble spawn a Goddess;
Though hence, my Laura, learned fellows
Of such its wondrous powers still tell us,
That every mother brings her daughter
To dip in this specific water,
Expecting from the briny wave
Charms which it once to Venus gave.
These charms, my Laura, strive to gain ; And, that you may not bathe in vain, I'll here, as well as I am able,
Give you a Moral to this Fable.
Would you a Goddess reign o’er all ?
From the wide flood its virtues call.
Free from each stain thy bosom keep,
Clear be it as this azure deep,
Which no capricious passion knows,
But duly ebbs, and duly flows;
Though sometimes ruffled, calm’d as soon,
Still constant to its faithful moon,
At whose approach with pride it swells,
And to each shore its chaste love tells ;
Heedless of every change of weather,
That wafts a straw, or coxcomb feather,
Which only on the surface play,
And unobserv'd are wash'd away.
Reflect, that, lodged within its breast, The modest pearl delights to rest, While every gem to Neptune known Is there with partial bounty sown, In years, thus ever may we trace Each sparkling charm, each blushing grace; To these let judgment value give, And in that seat of Beauty live!
This Moral keep before your eyes, Plunge and a new-born Venus rise.
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