PHYL

L I Ś;

OR,

THE PROGRESS OF LOVE. 1716.

DESPONDING Phyllis was endued

With every talent of a prude :

She trembled when a man drew near;
Salute her, and fhe turn'd her ear;
If o'er against her you were plac'd,
She durft not look above your waift:
She 'd rather take you to her bed,
Than let you fee her drefs her head :

In church you hear her, through the croud,
Repeat the abfolution loud:

In church, fecure behind her fan,
She durft behold that monster man ;
There practis'd how to place her head,
And bit her lips to make them red;
Or, on the mat devoutly kneeling,
Would lift her eyes up to the cieling,
And heave her bofom unaware,
For neighbouring beaux to fee it bare.
At length a lucky lover came,
And found admittance to the dame.
Suppofe all parties now agreed,
The writings drawn, the lawyer fee'd,
The vicar and the ring bespoke :

Guefs, how could fuch a match be broke?

See then what mortals place their blifs in !
Next morn betimes the bride was miffing:
'The mother fcream'd, the father chid;
Where can this idle wench be hid?
No news of Phyl! the bridegroom came,
And thought his bride had skulk'd for shame;
Because her father us'd to fay,

The girl bad fuch a bafbful way!
Now John the butler must be sent
To learn the road that Phyllis went.
The groom was wifh'd to faddle Crop;
For John muft neither light nor ftop,
But find her, wherefoe'er fhe fled,
And bring her back, alive or dead.

See here again the devil to do!
For truly John was miffing too :
The horse and pillion both were gone!
Phyllis, it seems, was fled with John.

Old Madam, who went up to find
What papers Phyl had left behind,
A letter on the toilet fees,

To my much-honour'd father

thefe

('Tis always done, romances tell us,
When daughters run away with fellows)
Fill'd with the choiceft common-places,
By others us'd in the like cafes.
"That long ago a fortune-teller
"Exactly faid what now befel her;
"And in a glass had made her fee
"A ferving-man of low degree.

“It was her fate, must be forgiven; "For marriages were made in heaven : "His pardon begg'd: but, to be plain, "She 'd do 't, if 'twere to do again : “Thank'd God, 'twas neither sbame nor fin ; "For John was come of honeft kin. "Love never thinks of rich and poor : "She'd beg with John from door to door. "Forgive her, if it be a crime; "She'll never do 't another time. "She ne'er before in all her life "Once disobey'd him, maid nor wife. "One argument fhe fumm'd up all in, "The thing was done, and past recalling ; "And therefore hop'd she should recover "His favour, when his passion's over. "She valued not what others thought her, "And was - his moft obedient daughter.”

Fair maidens, all attend the Muse,
Who now the wandering pair pursues :
Away they rode in homely fort,
Their journey long, their money fhort;
The loving couple well bemir'd;
The horse and both the riders tir'd:
Their victuals bad, their lodging worse ;
Phyl cry'd! and John began to curfe :
Phyl wish'd, that she had ftrain'd a limb,
When firft the ventur'd out with him;
John wish'd, that he had broke a leg,
When first for her he quitted Peg.

But what adventures more befel them,
The Mufe hath now no time to tell them,
How Johnny wheedled, threaten'd, fawn'd,
Till Phyllis all her trinkets pawn'd:
How oft' fhe broke her marriage vows
In kindness to maintain her spouse,
Till fwains unwholesome spoil'd the trade;
For now the furgeons must be paid,
To whom those perquifites are gone,
In Chriftian juftice due to John.

When food and raiment now grew scarce,
Fate put a period to the farce,
And with exact poetic justice;

For John was landlord, Phyllis hostess;
They keep, at Staines, the Old Blue Boar,
Are cat and dog, and rogue and whore.

AD AMICUM ERUDITUM

THOMAM SHERIDAN.

1717.

DELICIA Sheridan Mufarum, dulcis amice,

Si tibi propitius Permefli ad flumen Apollo Occurrat, feu te mimum convivia rident, Equivocofque fales fpargis, feu ludere verfu. Malles; dic, Sheridan, quifnam fuit ille deorum, Quæ melior natura orto tibi tradidit artem Rimandi genium puerorum, atque ima cerebri Scrutandi Tibi nafcenti ad cunabula Pallas

Aftitit;

Aftitit; & dixit, mentis præfaga futuræ,
Heu, puer infelix! noftro fub fidere natus ;
Nani tu pectus eris fine corpore, corporis umbra;
Sed levitate umbram fuperabis, voce cicadam :
Mufca femur, palmas tibi mus dedit, ardea crura.
Corpore fed tenui tibi quod natura negavit,
Hoc animi dotes fupplebunt ; teque docente,
Nec longum tempus, furget tibi do&ta juventus,
Artibus egregiis animas inftructa novellas.
Grex hinc Pæonius venit, ecce, falutifer orbi.
Aft, illi caufas orant; his infula vifa eft
Divinam capiti nodo conftringere mitram.
Natalis te horæ non fallunt figna, fed ufque
Confcius, expedias puero feu lætus Apollo
Nafcenti arrifit; five illum frigidus horror
Saturni premit, aut feptem inflavere triones.

Quin tu altè penitufque latentia femina cernis,
Quæque diu obtundendo olim fub luminis auras
Erumpent, promis; quo ritu fæpè puella
Sub cinere hefterno fopitos fufcitat ignes.

Te dominum agnofcit quocunque fub aëre natus ;
Quos indulgentis nimium cuftodia matris
Peffundat: nam fæpè vides in ftipite matrem.

Aureus at ramus, venerandæ dona Sibyllæ,
Æneæ fedes tantùm patefecit Avernus;
Sæpè puer tua quem tetigit femel aurea virga
Cœlumque terrafque videt, noctemque profundam.

HORACE,