...was the lady whom Pope celebrated charmingly in his lyric, written at about the time of the letter : I know the thing that's most uncommon; ( Envy, be...reasonable Woman, Handsome and witty, yet a friend. Yet she was also the Chloe of his epistle " Of the Characters of Women " of whom he wrote Virtue she...

...with a monument to her husband. On a certain Lady at Court [written c. 1725; published, PSM, 1732] I know the thing that's most uncommon ; (Envy be silent...yet a Friend. Not warp'd by Passion, aw'd by Rumour, 5 Not grave thro' Pride, or gay thro' Folly, An equal Mixture of good Humour, And sensible soft Melancholy....

...Whitehall in its palmy days, must have owned no common charm ! Or, listen to a greater poet's compliment : I know the thing that's most uncommon, (Envy be silent...reasonable woman, Handsome and witty, yet a friend. Not warped by passion, awed by rumour, Not grave tiirough pride or gay through folly, An equal mixture...

...Irvin Ehrenpreis, Swift: The Man, His Works, andthfAgt, 3 vols. (London, 1962-83), III, 523-25. 587-93. I know the thing that's most uncommon; (Envy be silent...Friend. Not warp'd by Passion, aw'd by Rumour, Not grave thro' Pride, or gay thro' Folly, An equal Mixture of good Humour, And sensible soft Melancholy. 'Has...

...FaFP; FiP; FL; GTBS; GTBS-P; HelP; InvP; NAEL-1; PoRA; Prf; TEP; TrGrPo On a Certain Lady at Court 109 out Romanc . warped by passion, awed by rumour, Not grave through pride, or gay through folly; An equal mixture...

...before we go quite off this stage? In every friend we lose a part of ourselves, and the best part. I know the thing that's most uncommon; (Envy, be silent...reasonable woman, Handsome and witty, yet a friend. Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends. ALEXANDER POPE A friend...