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<DATE>2010-07-14</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Greg Schutz</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A85493">
<STC T="W">g1424</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">45097805</BIBNO>
<VID>171390</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Love given o're: OR, A SATYR AGAINST THE Pride, Lu&s;t, and Incon&s;tancy, &amp;c. OF WOMAN.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>R. Bentley,</HI> and <HI>J. Ton&s;on.</HI> 1685.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<P>THE Pious Endeavours of the Gown, has not prov'd more ineffectual in the reclaiming the Errors of a vitious Age, than <HI>Satyr</HI> (the better way, tho' le&s;s practis'd) the amendment of Hone&s;ty, and good Manners among&s;t us. Nor is it a wonder, when we con&s;ider that Women, (as if they had the ingredient of Fallen-Angel in their compo&s;ition) the more they are la&s;h'd, are but the more hard|ned in Impenitence: and as Children in &s;ome violent Di&s;temper, commonly &s;pit out tho&s;e cheri|&s;hing Cordials, which if taken, might chace away the Malady: So they (in&s;pir'd as 'twere with a natural aver&s;ne&s;s to Vertue) de&s;pi&s;e that whol|&s;om Coun&s;el, which is Religiou&s;ly de&s;ign'd for their future good, and happine&s;s. Judge then, if <HI>Satyr</HI> ever had more need of a &s;harper &s;ting than now: when he can look out of his Cell on no &s;ide, but &s;ees &s;o many Objects beyond the
<PB REF="3">reach of indignation. Nor is it altogether un|rea&s;onable for me (while others are la&s;hing the Rebellious Times into Obedience) to have one fling at <HI>Woman,</HI> the Original of Mi&s;chief. Altho' I'me &s;en&s;ible I might as well expect to &s;ee Truth and Hone&s;ty uppermo&s;t in the World, as think to be free from the Bitterne&s;s of their Re&s;entments: But I have no rea&s;on to be con|cern'd at that; &s;ince I'me certain my de&s;ign's as far from offending the good, (if there are any among&s;t 'em that can be &s;aid to be &s;o) as tho&s;e few that are good, would be offended at their Reception into the Eternal Inhabitations of Peace, to be Crown'd there with the Sacred Reward of their Labours. As for tho&s;e that are ill, if it reflect on them, it &s;ucceeds accord|ing to my wi&s;h; for I have no other de&s;ign but the amendment of Vice, which if I could but in the lea&s;t accompli&s;h, I &s;hould be well pleas'd; and not without rea&s;on too; for it mu&s;t needs be a &s;atisfaction to a young unskilful Archer, to hit the fir&s;t Mark he ever aim'd at.</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Farewel.</SALUTE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="poem">
<PB N="1" REF="3" MS="y">
<HEAD>Love given o're: OR, A SATYR AGAINST WOMAN.</HEAD>
<LG>
<L>AT length from Love's vile Slav'ry I am free,</L>
<L>And have regain'd my ancient Liberty:</L>
<L>I've &s;hook tho&s;e Chains off which my bondage wrought,</L>
<L>Am free as Air, and unconfin'd as thought;</L>
<L>For faithle&s;s <HI>Silvia</HI> I no more adore,</L>
<L>Kneel at her feet, and pray in vain no more:</L>
<L>No more my Ver&s;e &s;hall her fled worth proclaim,</L>
<L>And with &s;oft prai&s;es celebrate her Name:</L>
<L>Her Frowns do now no awful terrours bear;</L>
<L>Her Smiles no more can cure or cau&s;e de&s;pair.</L>
<L>I've bani&s;h'd her for ever from my Brea&s;t,</L>
<L>Bani&s;h'd the proud Invader of my re&s;t,</L>
<L>Bani&s;h'd the Tyrant Author of my woes,</L>
<L>That robb'd my Soul of all its &s;weet repo&s;e:</L>
<L>Not all her treach'rous, Arts, bewitching Wiles,</L>
<L>Her Sighs, her Tears, nor her deluding Smiles,</L>
<L>Shall my eternal Re&s;olution move,</L>
<L>Or make me talk, or think, or dream of Love:</L>
<L>The whining Cur&s;e I've bani&s;h'd from my Mind,</L>
<L>And with it, all the thoughts of Womankind.</L>
<L>Come then my Mu&s;e, and &s;ince th' occa&s;ion's fair,</L>
<L>'Gain&s;t the lew'd Sex proclaim an endle&s;s War;</L>
<L>Which may renew as &s;till my Ver&s;e is read,</L>
<L>And live, when I amaningl'd with the dead:</L>
<PB N="2" REF="4">
<L>Di&s;cover all their various &s;orts of Vice,</L>
<L>The Rules by which they ruine and intice,</L>
<L>Their Folly, Fal&s;hood, Lux'ry, Lu&s;t, and Pride,</L>
<L>With all their num'rous Race of Crimes be&s;ide:</L>
<L>Unvail 'em quite to ev'ry vulgar Eye,</L>
<L>And in that &s;hameful po&s;ture let 'em lie,</L>
<L>Till they (as they de&s;erve) become to be</L>
<L>Abhorr'd by all Mankind, as they 're abhorr'd by me.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Woman! by Heav'ns the very Name's a Crime,</L>
<L>Enough to bla&s;t, and to debauch my Rhime.</L>
<L>Sure Heav'n it &s;elf (intranc't) like <HI>Adam</HI> lay,</L>
<L>Or el&s;e &s;ome bani&s;h'd Fiend u&s;urp't the &s;way</L>
<L>When <HI>Eve</HI> was form'd; and with her, u&s;her'd in</L>
<L>Plagues, Woes, and Death, and a new World of Sin.</L>
<L>The fatal Rib was crooked and unev'n,</L>
<L>From whence they have their Crab-like Nature giv'n;</L>
<L>Aver&s;e to all the Laws of Man, and Heav'n.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>O <HI>Lucifer,</HI> thy Regions had been thin,</L>
<L>Were't not for Womans propagating Sin:</L>
<L>'Tis they alone that all true Vices know;</L>
<L>And &s;end &s;uch Throngs down to thy Courts below:</L>
<L>More Souls they've made obedient to thy Raign,</L>
<L>Than Heav'n, and Earth, and Seas be&s;ide, contain.</L>
<L>True, the fir&s;t Woman gave the fir&s;t bold Blow,</L>
<L>And bravely &s;ail'd down to th' Aby&s;s below;</L>
<L>But had the great Deed &s;till been left undone,</L>
<L>None of the daring Sex, no, hardly one,</L>
<L>But in the very &s;elf-&s;ame path would go,</L>
<L>Tho' &s;ure 'twou'd lead 'em to eternal woe:</L>
<L>Find me ye pow'rs, find one among&s;t 'em all,</L>
<L>That does not envy <HI>Eve</HI> the glory of the Fall:</L>
<L>Be cautious then, and guard your Empire well;</L>
<L>For &s;hou'd they once get power to rebel,</L>
<L>They'd &s;urely rai&s;e a Civil-War in Hell,</L>
<L>Add to the pains you feel; and make you know,</L>
<L>W'are here above, as Cur&s;t as you below.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>How happy had we been, had Heav'n de&s;ign'd</L>
<L>Some other way to propagate our kind?</L>
<L>For what&s;o'ere tho&s;e All-di&s;cerning Pow'rs</L>
<L>Created Good: Wife! Nau&s;eous Wife! turn'd &s;ow'r;</L>
<PB N="3" REF="4" MS="y">
<L>Debauch'd th' innocent, Ambro&s;ial meat,</L>
<L>And (like <HI>Eves</HI> Apple) made it Death to eat:</L>
<L>But cur&s;t be the vile Name, and cur&s;t be they,</L>
<L>Who are &s;o tamely Dull as to obey.</L>
<L>The Slaves they may command; Is there a Dog,</L>
<L>Who, when he may have freedom, wears a Clog?</L>
<L>But Man, ba&s;e Man, the more imprudent Bea&s;t,</L>
<L>Drags the dull weight when he may be releas't:</L>
<L>May &s;uch ye Gods (too many &s;uch we &s;ee)</L>
<L>While they live here, ju&s;t only live, to be</L>
<L>The marks of Scorn, Contempt, and Infamy.</L>
<L>But if the Tide of Nature boi&s;t'rous grow,</L>
<L>And would Rebelliou&s;ly its Banks o'erflow,</L>
<L>Then chu&s;e a Wench, who (full of lewd de&s;ires)</L>
<L>Can meet your flouds of Love with equal fires;</L>
<L>And will, when e're you let the Deluge flie,</L>
<L>Through an extended Sluce &s;trait drain it dry;</L>
<L>That Whirl-pool Sluce which never knows a Shore,</L>
<L>Ne're can be fill'd &s;o full as to run o're,</L>
<L>For &s;till it gapes, and &s;till cries&mdash;room for more!</L>
<L>Such only damn the Soul; but a damn'd Wife,</L>
<L>Damns that, and with it all the Joys of Life:</L>
<L>And what vain Blockhead is &s;o dull, but knows,</L>
<L>That of two Ills the lea&s;t is to be cho&s;e.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But now, &s;ince Womans boundle&s;s Lu&s;t I name,</L>
<L>Womans unbounded Lu&s;t I'le fir&s;t proclaim:</L>
<L>Trace it through all the &s;ecret various ways,</L>
<L>Where it &s;till runs in an eternal Maze:</L>
<L>And &s;how that our lewd Age has brought to view,</L>
<L>What impious <HI>Sodom,</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah</HI> too,</L>
<L>Were they what once they were, would blu&s;h to do.</L>
<L>True, I confe&s;s that <HI>Rome</HI>'s Emperial Whore,</L>
<L>(More Fam'd for Lu&s;t, than for the Crown &s;he wore)</L>
<L>A&s;pir'd to Deeds &s;o impiou&s;ly high,</L>
<L>That their immortal Fame will never die:</L>
<L>Into the publick Stews (di&s;guis'd) &s;he thru&s;t,</L>
<L>To quench the raging Fury of her Lu&s;t:</L>
<L>Her part again&s;t th' A&s;&s;embly &s;he made good,</L>
<L>And all the Sallies of their Lu&s;t with&s;tood,</L>
<PB N="4" REF="5" MS="y">
<L>And detain'd 'em dry? exhau&s;ted all their &s;tore;</L>
<L>Yet all could not content th' in&s;atiate Whore,</L>
<L>Her C&mdash;like the dull Grave, &s;till gap't for more.</L>
<L>This, this &s;he did, and bravely got her Name,</L>
<L>Born up for ever on the Wings of Fame:</L>
<L>Yet this is poor, to what our Modern Age</L>
<L>Has hatch'd, brought forth, and acted on the Stage.</L>
<L>Which for the Sex's glory I'le reher&s;e;</L>
<L>And make that deathle&s;s, as that makes my Ver&s;e.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Who knew not (for to whom was &s;he unknown)</L>
<L>Our late illu&s;trious <HI>Bewley?</HI> (true, &s;he's gone</L>
<L>To an&s;wer for the num'rous Ills &s;h'as done;</L>
<L>Who, tho' in Hell (in Hell, if any where)</L>
<L>Hemm'd round with all the flames and tortures there,</L>
<L>Finds 'em not fiercer, tho &s;hefeels the wor&s;t,</L>
<L>Then when &s;he liv'd, her own wild flames of Lu&s;t.)</L>
<L>As <HI>Albions</HI> I&s;le fa&s;t rooted in the Main,</L>
<L>Does the rough Billows raging force di&s;dain,</L>
<L>Which tho' they foam, and with loud terrors rore,</L>
<L>Yet they can never reach beyond their &s;hore.</L>
<L>So &s;he with Lu&s;ts Enthu&s;ia&s;tick Rage,</L>
<L>Su&s;tain'd all the &s;alt Stallions of the Age.</L>
<L>Whole Legions &s;he encounter'd, Legions fir'd;</L>
<L>In&s;atiate yet, &s;till fre&s;h Supplies de&s;ir'd.</L>
<L>Illu&s;trious Bawd! who&s;e Fame &s;hall be di&s;play'd,</L>
<L>When Heroes Glories are in Silence laid,</L>
<L>I as profound a Silence, as the Slaves</L>
<L>Their conq'ring Swords di&s;patch'd into their Graves.</L>
<L>But Bodies mu&s;t decay; for 'tis too &s;ure,</L>
<L>There's nothing from the Jaws of Time &s;ecure.</L>
<L>Yet, when &s;he found that &s;he could do no more,</L>
<L>When all her Body was one putrid Sore,</L>
<L>Studded with Pox, and Ulcers quite all o're;</L>
<L>Ev'n then, by her delu&s;ive treach'rous Wiles,</L>
<L>(Which &s;how'd mo&s;t &s;pecious when they mo&s;t beguil'd)</L>
<L>Sh' enroll'd more Females in the Li&s;t of Whore,</L>
<L>Than all the Arts of Man e're did before.</L>
<L>Pre&s;t with the pond'rous guilt, at length &s;he fell,</L>
<L>And through the &s;olid Centre &s;unk to Hell:</L>
<PB N="5" REF="5" MS="y">
<L>The murm'ring Fiends all hover'd round about,</L>
<L>And in hoar&s;e howls did the great Bawd &s;alute;</L>
<L>Amaz'd to &s;ee a &s;ordid lump of Clay,</L>
<L>Stain'd with more various bolder Crimes than they:</L>
<L>Nor were her torments le&s;s; for the dire Train,</L>
<L>Soon &s;ent her howling through the rowling flames,</L>
<L>To the &s;ad &s;eat of everla&s;ting pain.</L>
<L><HI>Cre&s;swold,</HI> and <HI>Stratford,</HI> the &s;ame Path do tread;</L>
<L>In Lu&s;t's black Volumes &s;o profoundly read,</L>
<L>That where&s;oe're they die, we well may fear,</L>
<L>The very tincture of the Crimes they bear,</L>
<L>With &s;trange infu&s;ion may in&s;pire the du&s;t,</L>
<L>And in the Grave commit true acts of Lu&s;t.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>And now, if &s;o much to the World's reveal'd,</L>
<L>Reflect on the va&s;t Stores that lie conceal'd,</L>
<L>How, when into their Clo&s;ets they retire,</L>
<L>Where flaming Dil&mdash;s does inflame de&s;ire,</L>
<L>And gentle Lap-d&mdash;s feed the am'rous fire:</L>
<L>Lap-d&mdash;s! to whom they are more kind and free,</L>
<L>Than they them&s;elves to their own Husbands be.</L>
<L>How cur&s;t is Man! when Brutes his Rivals prove,</L>
<L>Ev'n in the &s;acred Bu&s;ine&s;s of his Love.</L>
<L>Great was the wi&s;e Man's &s;aying, great, as true;</L>
<L>And we well know, than he none better knew;</L>
<L>Ev'n he him&s;elf acknowledges the Womb</L>
<L>To be as greedy as the gaping Tomb:</L>
<L>Take Men, Dogs, Lions, Bears, all &s;orts of Stuff,</L>
<L>Yet it will never cry&mdash;there is enough.</L>
<L>Nor are their Con&s;ciences (which can betray</L>
<L>Where e're they're &s;worn to love) le&s;s large than they;</L>
<L>Con&s;ciences, &s;o lewdly unconfin'd!</L>
<L>That ev'ry one wou'd, cou'd they act their mind,</L>
<L>To their own &s;ingle &s;hare engro&s;s ev'n all Mankind.</L>
<L>And when the Mind's corrupt, we all well know,</L>
<L>The actions that proceed from't mu&s;t be &s;o.</L>
<L>Their guilt's as great who any ills wou'd do,</L>
<L>As theirs who freely do tho&s;e ills pur&s;ue:</L>
<L>That they would have it &s;o their Crime a&s;&s;ures;</L>
<L>Thus if they dur&s;t, all Women would be Whores.</L>
<PB N="6" REF="6">
<L>Forgive me Mode&s;ty, if I have been</L>
<L>In any thing I have mention'd here, Ob&s;cene;</L>
<L>Since my De&s;ign is to detect their Crimes,</L>
<L>Which (like a Deluge) overflow the Times:</L>
<L>But hold&mdash;Why &s;hou'd I ask that Boon of thee,</L>
<L>When 'tis a doubt if &s;uch a thing there be;</L>
<L>For Woman in who&s;e Brea&s;ts thou'rt &s;aid to raign,</L>
<L>And &s;how the glorious Conque&s;ts thou do&s;t gain,</L>
<L>De&s;pi&s;es thee, and only Courts thy Name:</L>
<L>(Sounds tho' we cannot &s;ee, yet we may hear;</L>
<L>And wonder at their Ecchoing through the Air.)</L>
<L>Thus led by what delu&s;ive Fame imparts,</L>
<L>We think thy Throne's erected in their Hearts;</L>
<L>But we'are deceiv'd; as faith we ever were,</L>
<L>For if thou art, I'me &s;ure thou art not there:</L>
<L>Nothing in tho&s;e vile Man&s;ions does re&s;ide,</L>
<L>But rank Ambition, Luxury, and Pride.</L>
<L>Pride is the Deity they mo&s;t adore;</L>
<L>Hardly their own dear &s;elves they cheri&s;h more:</L>
<L>When &s;he commands, her Dictates they obey</L>
<L>As freely, as the Lamp that guides the Day,</L>
<L>Rowls round the Globe to its great Maker's Will;</L>
<L>Vain &s;en&s;le&s;s Sex! how &s;wift they fly to ill;</L>
<L>'Tis true, Pride revels chiefly in the Heart,</L>
<L>From whence &s;he does diffu&s;e with impious Art</L>
<L>Her nau&s;eous Poy&s;on into ev'ry part:</L>
<L>Survey their very Looks, you'l find it there;</L>
<L>How can you mi&s;s it when 'tis ev'ry where?</L>
<L>Some, through all hunted Nature's Secrets trace,</L>
<L>To fill the Furrows of a wrinkl'd Face;</L>
<L>And after all their toyl (pray, mark the Cur&s;e)</L>
<L>They've only made that which was bad, much wor&s;e.</L>
<L>As &s;ome in &s;triving to make ill Coin pa&s;s,</L>
<L>Have but the more di&s;cover'd that 'twas Bra&s;s.</L>
<L>Nay tho&s;e that are reputed to be fair,</L>
<L>And know how courted, and admir'd they are,</L>
<L>Who one would think God had made &s;o compleat,</L>
<L>They had no need to make his Gifts a Cheat;</L>
<L>Yet they too in adulteration &s;hare,</L>
<L>And wou'd in &s;pight of Nature be more fair.</L>
<PB N="7" REF="6" MS="y">
<L>Deluded Woman! tell me, where's the gain,</L>
<L>In &s;pending Time upon a thing &s;o vain?</L>
<L>Your precious Time, (O to your &s;elves unkind!)</L>
<L>When 'tis uncertain you've an hour behind</L>
<L>Which you can call your own: For tho' y'are Fair,</L>
<L>And beautiful as Guardian Angels are;</L>
<L>Adorn'd by Nature, fitted out by Art,</L>
<L>In all the Glories that delude the Heart:</L>
<L>Yet tell me, tell; have they the pow'r to &s;ave?</L>
<L>Or can they priviledge you from the Grave?</L>
<L>The Grave which favors not the Rich or Fair;</L>
<L>Beauty with the Bea&s;t lies undi&s;tingui&s;h'd there.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But hold&mdash;methinks I'me interrupted here,</L>
<L>By &s;ome Gay-Fop I neither Love nor Fear;</L>
<L>Who in the&s;e words his weakne&s;s does reveal,</L>
<L>And hurts that Wound which he &s;hou'd &s;trive to heal.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>"Soft Sir, methinks you too inveterate grow;</L>
<L>"Y'are &s;o much their's, y'are to your &s;elf a Foe,</L>
<L>"And more your Envy, than Di&s;cretion &s;how.</L>
<L>"Who'd Blame the Sun becau&s;e &s;he &s;hines &s;o bright,</L>
<L>"That we can't gaze upon his daz'ling light?</L>
<L>"When at the &s;elf-&s;ame time he cheers the Earth,</L>
<L>"And gives the various Plants, and Blo&s;&s;oms birth.</L>
<L>"How does the Winter look, that naked thing,</L>
<L>"Compar'd with the fre&s;h Glories of the Spring?</L>
<L>"Rivers, adorn the Earth; the Fi&s;h, the Seas;</L>
<L>"Flow'rs, and Gra&s;s the Meadows; Fruit the Trees;</L>
<L>"The Stars, the Fields of Air through which they ride;</L>
<L>"And Woman, all the works of God be&s;ide:</L>
<L>"Yet ba&s;e detracting Envy wont allow</L>
<L>"They &s;hould adorn them&s;elves; then pray Sir, now</L>
<L>"Produce &s;ome Rea&s;on's why y'are &s;o &s;evere;</L>
<L>For envious as you are you know they're Fair.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>True Sir &s;ay I&mdash;&s;o were tho&s;e Apples too,</L>
<L>Which in the mid&s;t of the fir&s;t Garden grew;</L>
<L>But when they were examin'd, all within,</L>
<L>Wrapt in a &s;pecious and alluring skin,</L>
<L>Lay the rank baits of never dying Sin.</L>
<PB N="8" REF="7">
<L>Nature made all things fair; 'tis not deny'd;</L>
<L>And dre&s;s'd 'em in an unaffected Pride:</L>
<L>The Earth, the Meadows, Rivers, Woods, and Flow'rs,</L>
<L>Proclaim the skill of their great Maker's pow'r;</L>
<L>And as they fir&s;t were made, do yet remain,</L>
<L>And all their Prim'tive Beauties &s;till retain.</L>
<L>Nothing but vain fanta&s;tick Woman's chang'd;</L>
<L>And through all Mi&s;chief's various Mazes rang'd:</L>
<L>And with &s;trange frantick Folly they have &s;hown,</L>
<L>(Folly peculiar to them&s;elves alone)</L>
<L>More ways to Pride, Sloth, and all &s;orts of Sin,</L>
<L>Than there are Fires in Hell to plunge 'em in.</L>
<L>Thus that they're Fair, you &s;ee is not deny'd;</L>
<L>But tell me, are th' Unhan&s;om free from Pride;</L>
<L>No no; the Strait, the Crooked, Ugly, Fair,</L>
<L>Have all promi&s;cuou&s;ly an equal &s;hare.</L>
<L>Thus Sir, you &s;ee how they're e&s;trang'd and &s;tray'd,</L>
<L>From what by Nature they at fir&s;t were made.</L>
<L>Yet tho' &s;o many of their Crimes I've nam'd,</L>
<L>That's &s;till untold for which they mo&s;t are Fam'd:</L>
<L>A Sin! (tall as the Pyramids of old)</L>
<L>From who&s;e a&s;piring top we may behold</L>
<L>Enough to damn a World&mdash;what &s;hould it be,</L>
<L>But (Cur&s;e upon the name!) Incon&s;tancy?</L>
<L>O tell me, does the World tho&s;e Men contain</L>
<L>(For I have look't for &s;uch but look't in vain)</L>
<L>Who ne're were drawn into their Fatal Snares?</L>
<L>Fatal I call 'em, for he's damn'd that's there.</L>
<L>In&s;pir'd then by your Wrongs and my ju&s;t &s;pight,</L>
<L>I'le bring the Fiend unmask't to humane &s;ight,</L>
<L>Tho' hid in the black Womb of deepe&s;t Night.</L>
<L>No more the Wind, the faithle&s;s Wind, &s;hall be</L>
<L>A <HI>Simile</HI> for their Incon&s;tancy;</L>
<L>For that &s;ometimes is fixt, but Woman's Mind,</L>
<L>Is never fixt, or to one Point inclin'd:</L>
<L>Le&s;s fixt than in a Storm the Billows be;</L>
<L>Or trembling Leaves upon an <HI>A&s;pen</HI> Tree,</L>
<L>Which ne're &s;tand &s;till, but (ev'ry way inclin'd)</L>
<L>Turn twenty times with the lea&s;t breath of Wind.</L>
<L>Le&s;s fixt than wanton Swallows while they play</L>
<L>In the Sun-beams, to welcome in the Day:</L>
<PB N="9" REF="7" MS="y">
<L>Now yonder, now they'r here, as &s;oon are there,</L>
<L>In no place long, and yet are ev'ry where</L>
<L>Like a to&s;s'd Ship their Pa&s;&s;ions fall and ri&s;e,</L>
<L>One while you'd think it touch'd the very Skies,</L>
<L>When &s;trait upon the Sand it grov'ling lies.</L>
<L>Ev'n &s;he her &s;elf, <HI>Silvia,</HI> th' lov'd and fair,</L>
<L>Who&s;e one kind look cou'd &s;ave me from de&s;pair;</L>
<L>She, &s;he who&s;e Smiles I valu'd at that rate,</L>
<L>To enjoy them I &s;corn'd the frowns of Fate;</L>
<L>Ev'n &s;he her &s;elf (but Ah! I'm loth to tell,</L>
<L>Or blame the Crimes of one I lov'd &s;o well;</L>
<L>But it mu&s;t out) ev'n &s;he, &s;wift as the Wind,</L>
<L>Swift as the airy motions of the Mind,</L>
<L>At once prov'd fal&s;e, and perjur'd, and unkind.</L>
<L>Here they to day invoke the Pow'rs above,</L>
<L>As Witne&s;&s;es to their Immortal Love;</L>
<L>When (lo!) away the airy Fantom flies,</L>
<L>And e're it can be &s;aid to live, it dies:</L>
<L>Thus all Religious Vows, and Oaths they break,</L>
<L>With the &s;ame ea&s;e and freedom as they &s;peak.</L>
<L>Nor is that &s;acred Idol, Marriage free,</L>
<L>(Marriage! which mu&s;ty Drones affirm to be</L>
<L>The tye of Souls, as well as Bodies! nay,</L>
<L>The Spring that does through un&s;een Pipes convey</L>
<L>Fre&s;h &s;weets to Life, and drives the bitter dregs away!</L>
<L>The Sacred Flame, the Guardian Pile of Fire,</L>
<L>That guides our &s;teps to peace! nor does expire,</L>
<L>Till it has left us nothing to de&s;ire!</L>
<L>Ev'n thus adorn'd, the Idol is not free</L>
<L>From the &s;wift turns of their Incon&s;tancy.</L>
<L>Witne&s;s the <HI>Ephe&s;ian</HI> Matron, who&s;e lewd Act,</L>
<L>Has made her name Immortal as the Fact:</L>
<L>Who to the Grave with her dead Husband went,</L>
<L>And clos'd her &s;elf up in his Monument;</L>
<L>Where on cold Marble &s;he lamenting lay,</L>
<L>In &s;ighs, &s;he &s;pent the Night; in Tears, the Day.</L>
<L>The wond'ring World extoll'd her faithful Mind,</L>
<L>Extoll'd her as the be&s;t of Woman-kind:</L>
<L>But &s;ee the World's mi&s;take; and with it, &s;ee</L>
<L>The &s;trange effects of wild Incon&s;tancy!</L>
<PB N="10" REF="8">
<L>For &s;he her &s;elf, ev'n in that &s;acred Room,</L>
<L>With one brisk, vig'rous On-&s;et was o'recome,</L>
<L>And made a Brothel of her Husband's Tomb:</L>
<L>Who&s;e pale Gho&s;t trembl'd in its Sacred Shrowd,</L>
<L>Wond'ring that Heav'n th' Impious Act allow'd:</L>
<L>Horror in Robes of Darkne&s;s &s;talk't around;</L>
<L>And through the frighted Tomb did Groans re&s;ound.</L>
<L>The very Marbles wept, the Furies howl'd,</L>
<L>And in hoar&s;e Murmurs their amazement told.</L>
<L>All this &s;hook not the Dictates of her Mind,</L>
<L>But with a boldne&s;s, bold as was her Crime,</L>
<L>She made her Husband's Gho&s;t (in Death, a Slave!)</L>
<L>Her nece&s;&s;ary Pimp, ev'n in his Grave!</L>
<L>Are the&s;e (ye Gods) the Virtues of a Wife?</L>
<L>The Peace that Crowns a Matrimonial Life?</L>
<L>Is this the Sacred Prize for which Man fights?</L>
<L>Bli&s;s, of his Days? and Rapture, of his Nights?</L>
<L>The Rains, that guide him in his wild Careers?</L>
<L>And the Supporter of his feeble Years?</L>
<L>His Freedom, in his Chains? in Want his Store?</L>
<L>His Health, in Sickne&s;s? and his Wealth, when Poor?</L>
<L>No, no, 'tis Contradiction oppo&s;ite,</L>
<L>As much as Heav'n's to Hell or Day's to Night.</L>
<L>They crown Man's Life with Peace? no, rather far,</L>
<L>They are the cau&s;e of all his Bo&s;om-war;</L>
<L>The very Source, and Fountain of his Woes,</L>
<L>Ftom whence De&s;pair, and Doubt for ever flows:</L>
<L>The Gall, that mingles with his be&s;t delight;</L>
<L>Rank, to the Ta&s;te; and nau&s;eous to the Sight:</L>
<L>A Days, the weight of Care that clogs his Brea&s;t,</L>
<L>At Night the Hagg that does di&s;turb his re&s;t:</L>
<L>His mortal Sickne&s;s in the mid&s;t of Health;</L>
<L>Chains, in his Freedom; Poverty in Wealth:</L>
<L>Th' Eternal Pe&s;tilence, and Plague of Life;</L>
<L>Th' Original, and Spring of all his Strife;</L>
<L>The&s;e rather are the Virtue, of a Wife!</L>
<L>Yet if all the&s;e &s;hould not &s;ufficient be,</L>
<L>To make us under&s;tand our mi&s;ery,</L>
<L>See it &s;umm'd up in their Incon&s;tancy:</L>
<PB N="11" REF="8">
<L>In which, &s;o many various ways they move,</L>
<L>They now Incon&s;tant in their Follies prove,</L>
<L>Ev'n as incon&s;tant as they do in Love:</L>
<L>Nor is't alone confin'd in tho&s;e to range,</L>
<L>Their Vices too them&s;elves admit of change,</L>
<L>Their deare&s;t darling Vices, Lu&s;t, and Pride,</L>
<L>With all they promi&s;e, think, or dream be&s;ide:</L>
<L>O how incon&s;tant then mu&s;t Woman be,</L>
<L>When con&s;tant only in Incon&s;tancy?</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>O why, ye awful Pow'rs, why was't your Will</L>
<L>To mix our &s;olid good with &s;o much ill?</L>
<L>Unle&s;s 'twere when you found rebellious Man,</L>
<L>(For 'ere time was you cou'd their Actions &s;can)</L>
<L>Would commit Crimes &s;o impious, and high,</L>
<L>That they were made your veng'ance to &s;upply:</L>
<L>For not the wild de&s;tructive wa&s;te of War,</L>
<L>Nor all the endle&s;s Lab'rinths of the Bar.</L>
<L>Famine, Revenge, perpetual lo&s;s of Health,</L>
<L>No, nor that grinning Fiend, De&s;pair it &s;elf,</L>
<L>When it in&s;ults with mo&s;t tyrannick &s;way,</L>
<L>Can plague or torture mankind more than they.</L>
<L>But hold&mdash;don't let me blame the Pow'rs Divine;</L>
<L>Or at the wond'rous Works they made, repine.</L>
<L>All fir&s;t was good, form'd by th' eternal Will,</L>
<L>Tho' &s;ome has &s;ince degenerated to ill:</L>
<L>Ev'n Woman was (they &s;ay) made cha&s;te and good;</L>
<L>But Ah! not long in that ble&s;t State &s;he &s;tood:</L>
<L>She fell, &s;he fell, and &s;ow'd the poys'nous Seeds</L>
<L>Of Murder, Rapine, all inhumane Deeds;</L>
<L>Which now &s;o very firm have taken root,</L>
<L>That Heav'n in vain wou'd &s;trive to raze 'em out.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But &s;top my Pen; for who can comprehend,</L>
<L>Or trace tho&s;e Crimes which ne're can have an end?</L>
<L>The Sun, The Moon, the Stars that gild the Sky.</L>
<L>The World, and all its glories too mu&s;t dye,</L>
<L>And in one univer&s;al Ruine lie:</L>
<L>But they ev'n Immortality will gain,</L>
<L>And live&mdash;but mu&s;t for ever live in pain;</L>
<L>For ever live, damn'd to eternal Night,</L>
<L>And never more review the Sacred Light.</L>
<PB N="12" REF="9">
<L>Beware then, dull deluded Man, beware;</L>
<L>And let not treacherous Woman be the Snare,</L>
<L>To make you the Companions with 'em there:</L>
<L>Scorn their vain Smiles, and all their Arts de&s;pi&s;e,</L>
<L>And your Content at that ju&s;t value prize,</L>
<L>As not to let tho&s;e rav'nous Thieves of Prey,</L>
<L>Rifle, and bear the &s;acred Prize away:</L>
<L>'Tis they, 'tis they that robs us of that Gem;</L>
<L>How cou'd we lo&s;e it were it not for them?</L>
<L>Avoid 'em then, with all the gawdy Arts,</L>
<L>Which they &s;till practi&s;e to amu&s;e our Hearts;</L>
<L>Avoid 'em, as you wou'd avoid their Crimes,</L>
<L>Or the mad Follies that infe&s;t the Times;</L>
<L>Avoid 'em, as you wou'd the pains of Hell,</L>
<L>For in them, as in that, Damnation dwells.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But now, &s;hou'd &s;ome (for doubtle&s;s we may find</L>
<L>Many a true bred Bea&s;t among&s;t Mankind)</L>
<L>Shou'd &s;uch contemn the whole&s;om Rules I give,</L>
<L>And in contempt of what I've &s;poke, &s;till live</L>
<L>Like ba&s;e-&s;oul'd Slaves, &s;till tho&s;e vile Fetters wear,</L>
<L>When they may be as unconfin'd as Air,</L>
<L>Or the wing'd Race what does inhabit there;</L>
<L>May all the Plagues that Woman can invent,</L>
<L>Pur&s;ue 'em with eternal Puni&s;hment:</L>
<L>May they&mdash;but &s;tay, my Cur&s;es I fore&s;tall;</L>
<L>For in one Cur&s;e I've comprehended all&mdash;</L>
<L>But &s;ay Sir, if &s;ome Pilot on the Main,</L>
<L>Shou'd be &s;o mad, &s;o re&s;olutely vain,</L>
<L>To &s;teer his Bark upon that fatal Shore,</L>
<L>Where he has &s;een ten thou&s;and wrack't before,</L>
<L>Tho' he &s;hou'd peri&s;h there; &s;ay, wou'd you not</L>
<L>Be&s;tow a Cur&s;e on the Notorious Sot?</L>
<L>Tru&s;t me, the Man's as frenzical as he,</L>
<L>Who venturs his frail Bark out wilfully,</L>
<L>On the Wild, Rocky, Matrimonial Sea;</L>
<L>When round about, and ju&s;t before his Eyes,</L>
<L>Such a de&s;tructive wa&s;te of fatal Ruine lies.</L>
</LG>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
