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Alexander Chalmers.

The works of the English poets, from Chaucer to Cowper;

. (page 121 of 174)

Or from what other atoms they begun.
No sires they had, or, if a sire, the Sun,
Some thin remains of chastity appeared,
Ev'n under Jove, hot Jove without a beard ;
Before the sen-ile Greeks had leamt to swear
By heads of kings; while yet the bounteous ymr
Her common fruits in open plains expos'd.
Ere thieves were feared, or gardehh were endos'd*
At length, uneasy. Justice upWanh flew.
And both the sisters to the stars withdrew ;
From that old era whoring did begita.
So venerably ancient is the sin.
Adulterers next invade the nnptial state.
And marriage-beds crcak'd with a foreign weight;
All other ills did iron times adorn ,
But whores and silver in one age were boro.
Yet thou, they say, for marriage dosTprovidt:
Is this an age to buckle with a brid*- ?
Thry gay thy hair the curling art is taught.
The wedding-ring perhaps already bought i
A sober man, like thee, to change his life f
What fury would possess thee with a wife ?
Art thou of ev<ry other death bereft.
No knife, no ratsbane, no kind halter led ?
( For every noose compar'd to her's is cheap) :
Is there no city-bridge from whence to leap ^
Won Id'st thou become her drudge, who dosteijoy
A better sort of bedfellow, thy Iwy ?
He keeps thee not awake with nightly brawls.
Nor with a begg'd reward thy pleasure palls;
Nor with insatiate heavings cn\\s for more.
When all thy spirits were drain'd out befMKw
But still Ursidius courts the marriage-bait.
Longs for a sop, to settle his estate.
And takes no gifts, though every gaping heir
Would gladly grease the rich old batchelor.



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JUVENAL. SATIRE VI.



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Wbirt refoliitkm eaa appesrtdttmlge,
it loch a Icftcber, toch aKfe to change ?
A rank, aotoiioufl ^hammtater, to choote
To thrust hit nock into the maniago-noote ?
Ik who to often m a dreadful fright
Had in a ooffier *scap^d the jealous cuckold's sight,
That he to wedtock dotingty betrayed,
Should hope in this lewd town to find a maid !
The man't^^nHm mad t to ease his frantic pain,
Ron for the surgeon ; breathe the middle vein :
But let a heifer with gilt boms be led
To Juno, regent of the marriage-bed.
And let him etery deity adore,
If his new bride prove not an arrant whore
Id head and tall, and every other pore.
On CcMs* feast restraaoM from their delight.
Few matrons there, but curse the tedious night:
Few whom their fathers dare salute, such lost
Their JMses have, and come with such a gust
With ivy now adorn thy doors, and wed ;
Such is thy bride, and subh thy genial bed.
Thuik*8t thou one man is for one woman meant ?
She sooner with one eye would be content- -

And yet 'tis nois*d, a maid did once appear
iD'lome small village, though fame says not

where:'
Til possible; but sura no man she fMmd ;
Twaa desert, all, about her father's gronnd :
And yet some lustful god might there make bold,
Are Jove and Mars grown impotent and old ?
Many a fair nymph has in a cave been spread.
And much good lov^ without a feather-bed.
Whither would'st thou to choose a wife resort,
The pa#k, the mall, the play-honse. or the court ?
Which way soever thy adventures fall.
Secure alike of chastity in all.
^One sacs a daucing-master capering high.
And raves, and pisses, with pure ecstasy :
And one it charm*d with the new opera notes.
Admires the song, but on the singer dotes :
The country lady in the hox appears,
Softly she warbles over all she hears ; .
And sacks in passion both at eyes and oars*

The rest (when now the long va.'ation's come.
The noisy hall and theatres grown dumb)
Their memories to, refresh, and cheer their hearts.
In bonrow*d breeches act the players* parts.
The poor, that scarce have wherewithal to eat.
Will pinch, to make the singing boy a treat.
The iMi, to bny him, will refnse no price i
And stretch his quail-pipe, till they crack his voice.
Tiragediana, acting love, for last are sought
(Thouf^h hut the parrots of a poet's thought).
The pleading lawyer, though for counsel us*d,
la chambi?r practice often is refused.
Still thou wilt have a wife, and father hehrs
(The product of concurring theatres).
P«rha|iB a fencer did thy brows adorn.
And a young sword-man to thy lands is bom.

Thus Hippia loathM her old patrician lord,
And left him for a brother of the sword :
To wondering Pharos with her love she fled,
Ta show one monster more than Afric bred :
Forgetting house and husband, left behind
EVn children too ; she sails befbre the iHnd ;
False to tbem all, but ixhistant to her kind.
Bat, stranger yet, and harder to conceive.
She could the play-house and the players leave.
Bom of rich parentage, and nicely bred,
$helodt>4<te4owii, aad in a dainask hed^



Yet fearing not the dangers of the deep.
On a hard mattress is content to sleep.
Ere this, 'tis tnie, she did her fame expose?
But that, great ladies with great ease can loasb
The tendk;r nymph could the rude ocean heart
So much her lust was stronger than her fear.
But had some honest cause her passage prrst.
The smallest hardship had disturt>'d her breastt
Each inconvenience makes their virtoe CfM ;
But womankind, in ills, is ever bold.
Were she to fbllow her own lord to sea.
What doubts or scruples would she raise to stay^
Her stomach sick, and her head giddy grows;
The tar and pitch are nauseous toiier nose.
But iu love's voyage nothing can ofi^ ;
Womeh are never search with a friend.
Amidst th^ crew, she walks upon the board ;
She eats, she drinks, she handles every cord s
And if she spews, 'tis thinking of her lord
Now ask, fbr whom her friends and fame she lost?
What youth, what beauty, coul d th* adulterer boast ?
What was the fhce fdr which she could sutam
To be 'call'd mistress to so base a maa >
The gallant, of his days had known the best ?
DecD scars arere seen indented on hb breast';
And* all hisbatter'd limbs reqnir'd their needfhl
A prodiontory wen, with grisly graotf, [r«f^

'^tood high, upon the handle of hia face s
His blear eyes ran m gutters to his chin t
Hb beard was stubble, and hb cheeks wer0 thin*
But taa« his fencing did her famry move :
'Tis arms, and blood, and cruelty, they lova
Rut should he quit hb trade, and sheath his swoid^
Her lover would begin to be her lord.

This was a private crime; but you shall bear
What fhiits the sacred brows of monarchs bear)
The good old sloggard but began to snore.
When firom hb side uprose th' imperial whort i
She who preferred the pleasures of the taight
To pomps, that are but impotent delight :
^rode from the patece, with an eager pace^
To cope with a more mascuTW embrace:
MoflM she march'd, like Juno in a cloudy
(Kail her train but one poor wench allow'd.
One whom in secret service «he oouM trust |
The rival and companion of her lust.
To the known brothel-house she takes her way)
And for a nasty room gives drmble pay ;
That room in which the rankest harlot by.
Prepar'd for fight, expectingly she lies.
With heavmg breasts, and with desiring eyas.
Still as one drops, anoth -r takes hb place.
And baffled still succeed** to like di^race.
At length, when friendiv darkness b exnir'dy
And every strumpet from her cell retipd,
She lags behind, and. ImgeriAg at the gate^
With a repining sifh submits to fete:
All filth without, and all a fire within,
Tir'd with the toil, ansated with the sin.
Old C«sar*s bed the modest matron serin;
The steam of lamps still hanging on her cheikt^
In ropy smut : thus foul, aiul thus bedight,
She brings him back the product of the ni?ht

Now should I sing whst poisons th y prorida {
With all their trunmery of charms hesidie ;
And all thehr arts of death : it would be knows
Lust is the «malletit sin the sex can own*
Csesinia still, they say, b guiltless found
Of every vice, by her own lord renown'd ?
And wdl ibe nmy, sIm brought ten thonaaad paoid.



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DHYDE>rS TRANSLATIONS.



She brought him wheMwkhal to be oaU'd cb«ifte ;
vHis tongue is ty'd in golden fetten fmt:
He sigbS) adores, and courts her evevy hour ;
Who vould not cio as nucb for such a dower?
She writes love-letters to the jwuth in grace ;
Kay, tips the wink before the cuckold^s feoe;
And might do more ; her portion makes it good ;
Wealth has the privilege of widowhood.

These (roths with his example yon disprove.
Who with his wife is monstrously in love :
But know him better ; (br I heard him swear,
Tk not that she's his wi£e, bat that she's fair.
Let her hut have three wrinkles in her ftice,
Let her eyes lessen, and her skin unbrace.
Soon you wiH hear the sauey steward say,
'* I'ack up with all jrour trinkets, and away;
You grow ofiensive both at bed and board :
Your betters must be had to please my lord."

Meantime she's absolute upon the throne:
Aod^ knowing time » precious, loses none :
She most have flocks of sheep, with woo} noore fine
Than silk, and vineyards of the noblest wine:
Whole droves of psges for her train she craves :
And sweeps the prisons for attending slaves*
In short, whatever in her eyes can come.
Or others have abroad, she wants at home.
When winter shuts the seas, and fleecy snows
Make houses white, she to the merchant goes ;
Rich crystals of the rocks she takes up there.
Huge i^;ate vases, and old china-ware.

But is none worthy to be made a wife
Tn all this town ? Suppose her free firom strife.
Rich, iiur, and fruitful, of unblemished life ;
Chaste as the Sabines, whose prevailing; charms
Dismissed their husbands, and their brothers' areas:
Grant her, be^iides, of noble blood, that ran
In ancient veins ere heraldry began :
Suppose ail these, and take a poet's word,
A biack kwan is not half so rare a bird.
A wife, bo hung with virtues, such a freight.
What mortal shoulders could support the weight !
S6mc country-girl, scarce to a curtsey bred.
Would I much rather than Cornelia wed :
If, supercilious, haughty, proud, and vain.
She bioiight her father's triumphs in her train.
Away with ail your Carthaginian state,
liCt van<quish'd ilannihal without doors wait.
Too burly and too big to pass my narrow gate.

** O Piean," cries Amphion, ** bend thy bow
Agaiii^^t my wife, and let my children go :"
But sullen Psean shoots at sons and mothers too.
His Niut>e and all his boys he lost ; .
F.v'n her, who did her numerous ofB^ring boast,
M fair and fruitful as the sow that carry'd
The liiirty pigs, at one Uirge litter farrow'd.

What beauty or what chastity can bear
So great a price ? If stately and severe.
She still insults, and you must still adore;
Grant that the honey*s much, the g*ll is more.
Upbraided with the virtues she displays,
Seven hours in twelve, you loath the wife you

praise :
Some faults, though small, intolerable grow ;
For what so nauseous and affected too.
As those that think they due perfection want,
Who have not learnt to lisp the Grecian cant ?
In Greece their whole accomplishments they seek:
Their fashion, breeding, language, must be Greek:
But, raw in all that does to Rome belong,
They soorn to cultivate their mother-tooguet



In Greek they flaMor, aU tiMir ItmtWf spmk.
Tell all their secsets ; mty, they sooUn Gnsks
Ev'n in the £Mt of love» they nse that toogne.
Such a fl fe ct ftti o ns may become ths yoong;
But thou, old ba^, of thsseseore yaassaodthisi^
Is showing 9f thy parif in Gvedifet thst?
Zmh »mi <hfx^ • ^^ ^^iMt tender voids
The momentary trembliog blim afiordSf
The kind soft murmum of the private sheds
Are bawdy, while tbou speak'st in poUie streets
Those words have fingers ; and their fecoe is soch,
They raise the dead, a«d moont him wi«h a ts^l«
But all provocatives fipom thee asw waoi :
No blandishmeni the slackan'd nerve eaa ilnia.

If then thy lawful spoase thmi canst not tovs^
What reasoosbottid thy mindi to marriaga movt >
Why all the chaiges of thy nuptial feast.
Wine and desserts, and sweei-msats to digest )
Th' endowing gold that boys the dear delighj^
Giv'n for their first aad only happy aight ^
If thou art thus uxoriously inclined.
To bear thy bondage with a willing mjod.
Prepare thy neck, and pot It in the yokex
But for BO mercy from thy woaiaa look.
For though, perhaps^ she loves with cqaai Btm,
To absolute dominion she aspires ;
Joys in the spoil%, and triumphs e'es thy pmss)
The better husband makes the wife the wqsm.
Nothing is thine to give, or sell, or hay.
All offices of ancient friendship die ;
Nor hast thou leave to make a legacy^
By thy imperious wife then art bereft ;
A privilege, to pimps and panders left ;
Thy testament's her will j where she pMfOPi
Her rufiians, drudges, and adaltefers.
Adopting all thy rivals fer thy heirs.

" Go drag that slave to death :** yoor veasoa, why
Should the poor innocent be doom'd to die ?
What proofs ? For, when man's life is in debate,
The judge can ne'er too long deliberate.
'' Call'st^ thou that shkve a man," the wife rs«

plies:
" Prov'd, or unprov'd, the crime, the villaia di«^
I have the sovereign power to'save or kill i
And give no other roasou but my will.'* fchange,

Thus the she-tyrant reigns, till, pleas'd wiU
Her wild afiections to new empires range :
Another subject husband she desires,
Divorc'd from him, she to the first retires.
While the last wedding-feast is scarcely o'er.
And garlands hang yet green upon the d^or.
So still the reckoning rises i and appears.
In total sum, eight husbands in §lt^ yean.
The title for a tomb-stone might be fit ;
But that It would too commonly be writ.

Her mother living, hope no quiet day ;
She sharpens her, instructs her how to flea
Her husband bare, and then divides the prey.
She takes love-letters, with a crafty smile,
And, in her daughter's answer, maids the styles
In vain the husband sets his waichftd spies;
She cheats their cunning, or she bribes th«dr syefr
The doctor's call'd ; the daughter, taqght the tnc^
Pretends to faint ; and m full health is sick.
The panting sUUioa, at the oloeet^door.
Hears the consult, and wishes it were o'er.
Canst thou, in reasan, hope, a bawd so kiiovB|
Should teach her other manners than her ova \
Her interest is in all th' advice she gives:
Tis on the daught^'t r«nu th^ nother lifeni



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JUVENAL. aATiR£ VI



i«f



But women plaiotiA or ddcndaiito are,
Tbey fbrm the prooeit, «U th« brieiSi they vrild}
Tbe topictt funiwh, and Um pleat iodit* ^
And t«Acb tbe tuotbltts lawyer bow te bite.

They turn Tnragoe too ; the wreatler't toil
They try, and smear tbeir naked linibi with oU i
i^gaJntt the pott their wioker tbicUlt tht^f cmtb^
Flourith the tword, and at tbe flattron pualk
Of every ezerciae the oianQithcvew
FulAlt the parity and oft excela ut too ;
Prepared not only in leiga^d fight t' engage.
But rout the gbdiatort on tbe stag^
What sente ol thame in tucb a breatt can lie«
Inur'd to araa, and her own sex to iy ?
Yet to be wholly nan the would ditclaim ;
To quit bar tenfold pleatare at the gaac.
For frothy ptaitet and an empty name*
Oh what a docent tight *tit to behold
All thy wife's magazine by aucUoo sold !
Tbe belt, the crested pltune, tbe several taitt
Of armour, and the Spanith leather-boott !
Yet these are they, that cannot bear the beat
Of Bgur'd tilks, and under sarsenet sweat.
Behold tiia strutting Amasoaian wbore.
She lUuidt in guard with bar right-foot belbra s
|I«r coato tucked op; and all her motiow jost.
She stamps, and thM eriat ** Uah!'* at ovary

throat.
Tba sbostt of ancient Romans, should thof risOi
Would grin to see their daughters play a prises .
Besides, what endless brawla by wives ape brod:
The curtain -lecture makes a mournful bed.
Then, when ahe hat thee sure within the tbaati,
Her cry begins, and the whole day repeatt.
Coosciout ik crimes barselfy she teases fiiati
Thy servants are accut'd j thy wliore it curst;
She aett the jealous^ and at will she cries:
For womens' tsars are biit tbe sweat of eyes.
Poor ouckoid-fbol, thou think'tt that love tincero,
Aad suck'st between her lips tbe fiEdliog tear :
But search her cabinet, and thou shalt find
^cb tiller there with love-epistles linU
Suppose her taken in a close embrace.
This you would think so manifest a case,
No rhetoric could deiand, no impudaoce out-fac^;
Aad yet, ev'n then, she cries, ** Tbe marnago-vow
A mental reservation mutt allow ;
And there's a silent bargain still imply'd,
11m parties should be pleas'd on either side:
And both may for their private needs pcovida.
Though men youivelves, and women us you call.
Yet homo is a oommon name for all."
There's nothing bolder than a wonum caught;
Guilt gives them courage to maintain their fault

You ask from whence proceed these monstrous
crioMi?
Once poor, and tberalbra chaste, in fonner times,
Our matrons wore: no luxury Sound room
U lear-tooft houses, and bare walls of loma;
Their hssids with labour hardened while 'twas light,
A frugal sleep snp^y'd the quiet night, [8trait|
^bik pineh'd with want, their hunger heU tham
When Hannibal waa hovering at tbe gate:
But wanton now and lolling at oar ease,
We spfier all tb' iovetesato ills of peace,
And Wasteful riot, whose destmotive channa
Revenge the vaaquisb*d world, of our viatarioot
^o crime, no lustful postures are unknown I [t



Pridw, laoinMs, aad att I m carionr ai4i« ^
Pour nke a delt^ in from foreign porta r
Sincc;gold oboceae, and tilvffv, touad tbe way.
Strange fiabioos with strange bullion to convey.
And our plain simple mauners to betray, [spread t

What care our drunken dames to whom thaf
Wine no distinction makes of tail or head.
Who, lewdly dancing at a midaight baU»
For hot eringoes and fat oysters call t
Full brimmers to their fuddled noses tlirast^
Brimraart, tbe last provocatives of last
. When vapours to t^eir swimming brains adr«i06^'
And double tapers on the tablse daoesw

Now think what baspdy dialognat they hava.
What TuUia talks to bar oanfldkig slave.
At Modesty's old statue ; ifhmi by aigbC
They make a stand, awl from their littert Ggbl^
The good man early to tbe levee goes.
And treads tbe natty poddle of hit tponaa.

Tbe tecrett of th«r goddett nam'd the gaod^
Are ev*u by boys aad barbert uadertlaod :
Where the rank matrons, daociay to the ptpa,
Oig with their burnt, and arr fer action ripe ;
With music rait'd, they tpMad abroad thoit bait;
And toss their heads like aa enamenr'A moM a
Rank'd with the lady the cheap snmer lies;
For here not blood, but virtue, gives the piiit;
-Nothing is ieiga'd in this venereal ttrMr |
Tit downright lutt, aad acted to tbe IHb.
So full, to fierce, so vigoroot, aad so stf oa g.
That looking on, would aiahe old Nestor yoaaS'
Impatient of delay, a general sound.
And universal groan of lust, goes roiiad)
For then, and only thea, the sei thMero it ibuadL^
''NowiathatioMofaetioal aowbegial"
They cry, *' and let the lutty lovers in.
The wboretont are atlaap ; then bring the tlavee^
And watermen, a raee of ttroiw-back'd knavea.'*

I wish, at least, our sacrod rnes warafroa
From those poUutioat of obtotnity t
But His weU known what singer, bow disgQisPd»
A lewd aadaciouH actioii cntofpria'd ;
Into the fiur, with wosaen mixt, ho wtat,
Arm'd with a boga two-4iasKied instramsat ;
A grateful pretent to thote holy oboist.
Where the mouse, goilty of hit tax, rettrat ; i
And ov'a aiale-piotaret ax)daslly are veiPd»
Yet ao profaaeness oa that age provaU'd ;
No scoffsrs at raligioua rites are found ;
Though now, at every altar tbay abound*

** I hear your aaotioat coaasal," you woaM say,
" Keep close your womoa uadcr look aad key :"
But, who shall keep thote ke e p e sa? Women, aniit
In craft: begin with thote, and briba thorn first
The SOX is tum'd all whore ; they kwa the gaaies
And mistresses aad «aids are both the tame.

The poor Ogulnia, on the paot*t day.
Will borrow olotbet, aad chair, to tee tha play s.
She, who bafbra had mortgag'd her attato.
And pawn'd the last reaMiatng piece of ptota.
Some are reduc'd their otmott thifts to try :
But women have no shama of poverty*
Tbey live beyoad their stint; as if their Hart,
Tbe more exhaostad, wouU iooreato the more t
Somensan, inttrocied by the Ubooiing aat.
Provide againtt th' axtreidtiet of want;
But womankind, that mrnr kaowa a aieaa,
Down to tha drtgs their sinking fortone draai f
Hourly they give, andspead, and watta^ aad waarr
And think no pkiMia aaa ba booghi too 4ear«



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DRYDEN'S TRANSLATIONS.



If tongv they love, the singer's voice they force
Beyond his compast, till his quail-pipe's hoarse ^
His lute and h^re with their embrace is worn ;
With knots chey trim it, and with gems adorn :
^ Itun over all the strings, and kiaa the case ;
And make love to it, in the master's place.

A certain lady once, of high degree,
To Janus vow'd, and Vesta's deity,
That PoUio might, in sin^nng, win the prize;
^ollio the dear, the dailing of her eyes :
She pray'd, and brihM ; what conM she more have
Vbr a sick husband, or an only son ? [done

With her face veilM, and heaving up her hands.
The shameless suppliant at the altar stands ;
The forms of pmyer she solemnly pursues :
And, pale with fear, the offer'd entrails views.
Answer, ye powers ; for, if you heard her vow,
Your godships, snre, had little else to do.

This <s not all , for actors they implore:
An impudence not known to Heaven before*
Th' Aruspex, tir*d with this religious rout.
Is forcM to stand to long, he gets the gout.
But suffer not thy wife abroad to roam,
If she loves singing, let her sing at home ;
Kot stmt in streets, with Amazonian pace ;
For that's to cuckold thee before thy face.

•Hieir endless itch of news comes next in play;
They vent their own, and hear what others say.
Know what in Thrace, or what hi France, is done ;
Th' intrigues betwixt the stepdanie and the son
Tell who loves who, what favours some partake :
And who is jilted for another's sake.
What pregnant widow in what month was made.
How oft she did, and doing, what -she said.

She, first, beholds the raging comet rise :
Knows whom it threatens, and what lands destroys,
Still fur the newest news she lit^ in wait ;
And takes reports .iu<)t entering at the gate.
Wrecks, floods, and fires : whatever she can meet,
She spreads, and is the fame of every street.

This is a grievance ; but the next is worse ;
A very judgment, and her neighbours* curse ;
For, if their barking dog disturb her ease,
l^Q prayer can bind her, no excu^«e appease.
Th' unmanner'd malefactor is arraien'd ;
But first the master, who the cur maintain'd,
Must feel the scourge : by night she leaves her bed,
By night her bathing equipage is led.
That marching armies a less noise create ;
She moves in tumult, and she sweats in state.
Meanwhile, her guests their appetites must keep ;
Some gape f««r hunger and somr gasp for sleep.
At length she comes, all flush'd ; but ere she sup, ,
Swallows a swinging preparation-cup ;
And then, to clear her stomach, spews it up.
The deluge-vomit all the floor o'erflows.
And the sour savour nauseates every nose.
She drinks again : again she spews a lake ;
H. r wretched husband sees, and dares not speak :
But mutters many a curse against his wife ;
And damns himself for choosing such a life.

But of all the plagues, the greatest is untol \ ;
The bo»>k-l''arr»'d wife in Creek and Tjitin bold.
The critic dame, who at her talde sits *
Homer and Vircil quot i, and weighs their wits;
Anrl p'Hes Dido's agonizing fits.
SI e has so far th* p*ie<'nd'^nt of the board.
The pratin? p'^'^ant pw.'inor in one word :
The mau o' law is non plu't in his suit ;
Nay, every other female tongue is mute.



Hammers, and betting antilt, yoowontili
And Vulcan with his whole militia there.
Tabors and trumpets cease ; for she alone
Is able to redeem the labouring Moon.
Rv'd wit's a burthen, when it talks too kmg:
But she, who has no continence of tongue,
l^hould walk in breeches, and should wear a I
And mix among the philosophic herd.

what a midnight curse has he, whoee tide
Is pester'd with a mood and figure bride !
Let mine, ye gods ! (if such must be my €ite)
No logic learn, nor history translate;

But rather be a quiet, bumble fool :

1 hate a wif^ to u horn I go to ichool.

Who climbs the grammar-tree, distinctly knoiil
Where noun, and verb, and participle, grows;
Conrects her country-neighbour ; and, a-btd.
For breaking Priscian's. breaks her husband's bea^
The gaudy gossip, wh«ii she's set agog.
In jewels drest, and at each ear a bob.
Goes flaunting out, and, in her trim of pridt,
T'hinks all she sayi or does is justify'd.
Wh( n poor, she's scarce a tolerable evil ;
But rich, and fine, a wife's a very devit

She duly, on« e a month, renews her face;



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read the ebook The works of the English poets, from Chaucer to Cowper; is obligatory