Man has a breaft robuft, and more fecure,

It wounds him not fo deep, nor hits fo fure.

you

Men oft are falfe; and, if fearch with care,
You'll find lefs fraud imputed to the fair.
The faithlefs Jafon from Medea fled,
And made Creufa partner of his bed.
Bright Ariadne, on an unknown fhore,
Thy abfence, perjur'd Thefeus, did deplore.
If then, the wild inhabitants of air
Forbore her tender lovely limbs to tear,
It was not owing, Thefeus, to thy care.
Enquire the caufe, and let Demophoon tell,
Why Phyllis by a fate untimely fell.

Nine times, in vain, upon the promis'd day,
She fought th' appointed fhore, and view'd the sea :
Her fall the fading trees confent to mourn,
And fhed their leaves round her lamented urn.
The prince fo far for piety renown'd,.
To thee, Eliza, was unfaithful found;
To thee forlorn and languishing with grief,
His fword alone he left, thy last relief.
Ye ruin'd nymphs, fhall I the caufe impart
Of all your woes? Twas want of needful art.
Love of itfelf, too quickly will expire;
But powerful Art perpetuates defire.
Women had yet their ignorance bewail'd,
Had not this art by Venus been reveal'd.
Before my fight the Cyprian goddess fhone,
And thus fhe faid;

"What have poor women done?

}

Why is that weak, defenceless sex expos'd, "On every fide, by men well arm'd, inclos'd? "Twice are the men inftructed by the Muse "Nor muft fhe now to teach the fex refufe. "The Bard, who injur'd Helen in his fong, "Recanted after, and redrefs'd the wrong. "And you, if on my favour you depend, "The caufe of women, while you live, defend." This faid, a myrtle fprig, which berries bore She gave me (for a myrtle wreath she wore). The gift receiv'd, my fenfe enlighten'd grew, And from her prefence infpiration drew. Attend, ye nymphs, by wedlock unconfin'd, And hear my precepts, while fhe prompts my Ev'n now, in bloom of youth, and beauty's prime, Beware of coming age, nor waste your time : Now, while you may, and ripening years invite, Enjoy the seasonable, fweet delight:

mind

For rolling years, like ftealing waters, glide;
Nor hope to stop their ever-ebbing tide :
Think, nor hereafter will the lofs repay;
For every morrow will the taste decay,
And leave lefs relish than the former day.
I've feen the time, when, on that wither'd thorn,
The blooming rofe vy'd with the blushing morn.
With fragrant wreaths I thence have deck'd my
And fee how leaflefs now, and how decay'd!
And you, who now the love-fick youth reject,
Will prove, in age, what pains attend neglect.

head,

}

None

None, then, will prefs upon your midnight hours,
Nor wake, to ftrew your street with morning flowers.
Then nightly knockings at your door will cease,
Whofe noifelefs hammer, then, may ruft in peace.
Alas, how foon a clear complexion fades!
How foon a wrinkled skin plump flesh invades ;
And what avails it, though the fair-one fwears
She from her infancy had fome grey hairs?

She grows
all hoary in a few more years,
And then the venerable truth appears.

The fnake his fkin, the deer his horns may caft,
And both renew their youth and vigours paft:
But no receipt can human-kind relieve,
Doom'd to decrepit age without reprieve.
Then crop the flower which yet invites your eye,
And which, ungather'd, on its stalk must die.
Befides, the tender fex is form'd to bear,

And frequent births too foon will youth impair :
Continual harveft wears the fruitful field,
And earth itself decays too often till'd.
Thou didst not, Cynthia, fcorn the Latmian swain }
Nor thou, Aurora, Cephalus difdain;
The Paphian queen, who, for Adonis' fate
So deeply mourn'd, and who laments him yet,
Has not been found inexorable fince;
Witnefs Harmonia, and the Dardan prince.
Then take example, mortals, from above,
And like immortals live, and like them love.
Refufe not thofe delights, which men require,
Nor let your lovers languish with defire.

Falfe though they prove, what lofs can you fuftain?
Thence let a thousand take, 'twill all remain.
Though conftant ufe ev'n flint and steel impairs,
What you employ no diminution fears.

Who would, to light a torch, their torch deny ?
Or who can dread drinking an ocean dry?
Still women lofe, you cry, if men obtain ;
What do they lofe, that 's worthy to retain ?
Think not this faid to prostitute the sex,
But undeceive whom needlefs fears perplex.
Thus far a gentle breeze fupplies our fail,
Now launch'd to fea, we ask a brisker gale.
And, firft, we treat of drefs. The well-drefs'd vine
Produces plumpcft grapes, and richest wine;
And plenteous crops of golden grain are found,
Alone, to grace well-cultivated ground.
Beauty's the gift of gods, the fex's pride!
Yet to how many is that gift deny'd ?
Art helps a face; a face, though heavenly fair,
May quickly fade for want of needful care.
In ancient days if women flighted dress,
Then men were ruder too, and lik'd it lefs.
If Hectors fpoufe was clad in ftubborn stuff,
A foldier's wife became it well enough.
Ajax, to fhield his ample breast, provides
Seven lufty bulls, and tans their sturdy hides ;
And might not he d'ye think, be well carefs'd,
And yet his wife not elegantly drefs'd?
With rude fimplicity Rome first was built,
Which now we see adorn'd, and cary'd, and gilt.

This capitol with that of old compare ;

Some other Jove, you'd think, was worship'd there.
That lofty pile, where fenates dictate law,

When Tatius reign'd, was poorly thatch'd with straw •
And where Apollo's fane refulgent stands,
Was heretofore a track of pafture-lands.
Let ancient manner's other men delight;
But me the modern pleafe, as more polite.
Not that materials now in gold are wrought,
And diftant fhores for orient pearls are foug't;
Nor for, that hills exhauft their marble veins,
And ftructures rife whofe bulk the fea reftrains;
But, that the world is civiliz'd of late,
And polifh'd from the ruft of former date.
Let not the nymph with pendants load her ear,
Nor in embroidery, or brocade, appear;
Too rich a drefs may fometimes check defire;
And cleanlinefs more animates love's fire.
The hair difpos'd, may gain or lofe a grace,
And much become, or mifbecome the face.
What fuits your features, of your glafs enquire;
For no one rule is fix'd for head-attire.

A face too long fhould part and flat the hair,

Left, upward comb'd, the length too much appear
So Laodamia drefs'd. A face too round

Should fhow the ears,

and with a tower be crown'd.

On either shoulder, one, her locks displays;
Adorn'd like Phobus, when he fings his lays:
Another, all her treffes ties behind;

So drefs'd, Diana hunts the fearful hind.

13

Difhevel'd