With the light fan fhe moves the yielding air,
And gales, till then unknown, play round the fair.
Unhappy lovers, how will you withstand,
When these new arms fhall grace your charmer's hand?
In ancient times, when maids in thought were pure,
When eyes were artlefs, and the look demure,
When the wide ruff the well-turn'd neck enclos'd,
And heaving breasts within the stays repos'd,
When the clofe hood conceal'd the modeft ear,
Ere black-lead combs difown'd the virgin's hair;
Then in the muff unactive fingers lay,
Nor taught the fan in fickle forms to play.
How are the fex improv'd in am'rous arts,
What new-found fnares they bait for human hearts!
When kindling war the ravag'd globe ran o'er,
And fatten'd thirsty plains with human gore,
At first, the brandish'd arm the jav❜lin threw,
Or fent wing'd arrows from the twanging yew;
In the bright air the dreadful fauchion shone,
Or whistling flings difinifs'd th' uncertain stone.
Now men thofe lefs deftructive arms defpife,
Wide-wafteful death from thund'ring cannon flies,
One hour with more battalions ftrows the plain, 215
Than were of yore in weekly battles flain.
So love with fatal airs the nymph fupplies,
Her dress difpofes, and directs her eyes.
The bofom now its panting beauties hews,
'Th' experienc'd eye refiftlefs glances throws ; 220
Now vary'd patches wander o'er the face,
And ftrike each gazer with a borrow'd grace;
The fickle head-drefs finks, and now afpires
A tow'ry front of lace on branching wires.
The curling hair in tortur'd ringlets flows,
De round the face in labour'd order grows.
How fhall I foar, and on unweary wing
Trace varying habits upward to their spring!
What force of thought, what numbers can exprefs,
Th' inconftant equipage of female dress ?
How the strait stays the slender waist constrain,
How to adjust the mantua's sweeping train ?
What fancy can the petticoat furround,
With the capacious hoop of whale-bone bound?
But ftay, prefumptuous Mufe, nor boldly dare 235
The Toilette's facred mysteries declare;
Let a juft diftance be to beauty paid;
None here must enter but the trusty maid.
Should you the wardrobe's magazine rehearse,
And gloffy manteaus ruftle in my verse;
Should you
the rich brocaded fuit unfold,
Where rifing flow'rs grow ftiff with frosted gold,
The dazzled Mufe would from her subject stray,
And in a maze of fafhions lofe her way.
OLYMPUS' gates unfold; in heav'n's high towers
Appear in council all th' immortal Powers ;
Great Jove above the rest exalted fate,
And in his mind revolv'd fucceeding fate,
His awful eye with ray fuperior shone,
The thunder-grafping eagle guards his throne;
On filver clouds the great affembly laid,
The whole creation at one view furvey'd.
But fee, fair Venus comes in all her state,
The wanton Loves and Graces round her wait;
With her loose robe officious Zephyrs play,
And ftrow with odoriferous flowers the way,
In her right hand fhe waves the flutt'ring fan,
And thus in melting founds her fpeech began.
Affembled Powers, who fickle mortals guide, Who o'er the fea, the skies and earth prefide, Ye fountains whence all human bleffings flow, Who pour your bounties on the world below; Bacchus firft rais'd and prun'd the climbing vine, And taught the grape to ftream with genr'ous wine; Industrious
Induftrious Ceres tam'd the favage ground,
And pregnant fields with golden harvests crown'd;
Flora with bloomy fweets enrich'd the year,
And fruitful autumn is Pomona's care.
I first taught woman to fubdue mankind,
And all her native charms with drefs refin'd:
Celestial Synod, this machine furvey,
That shades the face, or bids cool Zephyrs play;
If confcious blufhes on her cheek arife,
With this fhe veils them from her lover's eyes;
No levell'd glance betrays her am'rous heart,
From the fan's ambush the directs the dart.
The royal fceptre fhines in Juno's hand,
And twisted thunder fpeaks great Jove's command; On Pallas' arm the Gorgon fhield appears,
And Neptune's mighty grafp the trident bears:
Ceres is with the bending fickle feen,
And the ftrung bow points out the Cynthian Queen;
Henceforth the waving fan my hands fhall grace,
The waving fan fupply the fceptre's place.
Who fhall, ye Powers, the forming pencil hold?
What story shall the wide machine unfold ?
Let Loves and Graces lead the dance around,
With myrtle wreaths and flow'ry chaplets crown'd;
Let Cupid's arrow ftrow the fmiling plains
With unrefifting nymphs, and am'rous swains:
May glowing picture o'er the furface fhine,
To melt flow virgins with the warm defign.
Diana rofe; with filver crefcent crown'd,
And fix'd her modeft eyes upon the ground;
Then with becoming mien fhe rais'd her head,
And thus with graceful voice the virgin faid.
Has woman then forgot all former wiles,
The watchful ogle, and delufive smiles?
Does man against her charms too pow'rful prove, 55 Or are the fex grown novices in love?
Why then these arms or why should artful eyes,
From this flight ambush, conquer by furprize?
No guilty thought the spotlefs virgin knows,
And o'er her cheek no conscious crimson glows; 60
Since blushes then from shame alone arise,
Why should we veil them from her lover's eyes ?
Let Cupid rather give up his command,
And truft his arrows in a female hand.
Have not the gods already cherish'd pride,
And woman with destructive arms fupply'd ?
Neptune on her bestows his choicest stores,
For her the chambers of the deep explores ;
The gaping fhell its pearly charge refigns,
And round her neck the lucid bracelet twines:
Plutus for her bids earth its wealth unfold,
Where the warm ore is ripen'd into gold;
Or where the ruby reddens in the foil,
Where the green emerald pays the fearcher's toil.
Does not the di'mond sparkle in her ear,
Glow on her hand, and tremble in her hair?
From the gay nymph the glancing luftre flies,
And imitates the lightning of her eyes.
But yet if Venus' wishes muft fucceed,
And this fantastic engine be decreed,
May fome chafte ftory from the pencil flow,
To speak the virgin's joy, and Hymen's woe.
Here let the wretched Ariadne stand,
Seduc'd by Thefeus to fome defart land,
Her locks difhevell'd waving in the wind,
The crystal tears confefs her tortur'd mind;
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