But, in its proper channels gliding fair;
A common benefit, which all may share.
Yet half mankind this eafy good disdain,
Nor relish happiness unbought by pain;
Falfe is their tafte of blifs, and thence their fearch is vain.
So idle, yet fo reftlefs, are our minds,
We climb the Alps, and brave the raging winds;
Through various toils to feek Content we roan,
Which with but thinking right were ours at home.
For not the ceafelefs change of fhifted place
Can from the heart a fettled grief erase,
Nor can the purer balm of foreign air
Heal the distemper'd mind of aking care.
The wretch, by wild impatience driven to rove,
Vext with the pangs of ill-requited love,
From Pole to Pole the fatal arrow bears,
Whofe rooted point his bleeding bofom tears;
With equal pain each different clime he tries,
And is himself that torment which he flies.
For how should ills, which.from our paffions flow, Be chang'd by Africk's heat, or Ruffia's fnow? Or how can aught but powerful reason cure What from unthinking folly we endure ? Happy is He, and He alone, who knows His heart's uneafy difcord to compofe; In generous love of others good, to find The fweeteft pleasures of the focial mind; To bound his wishes in their proper sphere; To nourish pleafing hope, and conquer anxious fear:
This was the wifdom ancient fages taught,
This was the fovereign good they justly sought;
This to no place or climate is confin'd,
But the free native produce of the mind.
Nor think, my Lord, that courts to you deny
The useful practice of philofophy:
Horace, the wifeft of the tuneful choir,
Not always chofe from greatnefs to retire ;
But, in the palace of Auguftus, knew
The fame unerring maxims to pursue,
Which, in the Sabine or the Velian fhade,
His ftudy and his happiness he made.
May you, my friend, by his example taught,
View all the giddy fcene with fober thought;
Undazzled every glittering folly fee,
And in the midft of flavish forms be free;
In its own centre keep your steady mind,
Let Prudence guide you, but let Honour bind.
In fhow, in manners, act the courtier's part;
But be a country gentleman at heart.
HE counfels of a friend, Belinda, hear,
Too roughly kind to please a lady's ear, Unlike the flatteries of a lover's pen,
Such truths as women feldom learn from men.
Nor think I praise you ill, when thus I show
What female vanity might fear to know.
Some merit 's mine, to dare to be fincere;
But greater yours, fincerity to bear.
Hard is the fortune that your fex attends;
Women, like princes, find few real friends:
All who approach them their own ends pursue;
Lovers and Minifters are feldom true.
Hence oft from Reafon heedlefs Beauty ftrays,
And the most trufted guide the most betrays :
Hence, by fond dreams of fancied power amus'd,
When moft ye tyrannize, you're most abus'd.
What is your fex's earliest, latest care,
Your heart's fupreme ambition?
To be fair.
For this, the toilet every thought employs,
Hence all the toils of drefs, and all the joys:
For this, hands, lips, and eyes, are put to school,
And each inftructed feature has its rule:
And yet how few have learnt, when this is given,
Not to difgrace the partial boon of Heaven!
How few with all their pride of form can move!
How few are lovely, that are made for love!
Do you, my fair, endeavour to poffefs
An elegance of mind as well as dress ;
Be that your ornament, and know to please
By graceful Nature's unaffected eafe.
Nor make to dangerous wit a vain pretence,
But wifely reft content with modeft fenfe;
For wit, like wine, intoxicates the brain,
Too ftrong for feeble woman to fuftain:
Of those who claim it more than half have none;
And half of thofe who have it are undone.
Be ftill fuperior to your fex's arts,
Nor think difhonefty a proof of parts:
For you,
the plaineft is the wifeft rule: A cunning woman is a knavish fool.
Be good yourself, nor think another's shame
Can raife your merit, or adorn your fame.
Prudes rail at whores, as ftatefmen in difgrace
At minifters, because they with their place.
Virtue is amiable, mild, ferene;
Without, all beauty; and all peace within:
The honour of a prude is rage and storm,
'Tis ugliness in its most frightful form.
Fiercely it ftands, defying gods and men,
As fiery monsters guard a giant's den.
Seek to be good, but aim not to be great:
A woman's nobleft ftation is retreat :
Her fairest virtues fly from public fight,
Domestic worth, that fhuns too strong a light.
To rougher man Ambition's task refign:
'Tis ours in fenates or in courts to shine,
To labour for a funk corrupted state,
Or dare the rage of Envy, and be great.
One only care your gentle breafts fhould move,
Th' important bufinefs of your life is love;
To this great point direct your conftant aim,
This makes your happiness, and this your fame.
Be never cool referve with paffion join'd';
With caution chufe; but then be fondly kind.
Ev'n o'er your cold, your ever-faċred urn,
His conftant flame shall unextinguish'd burn.
Thus I, Belinda, would your charms improve,
And form your heart to all the arts of love.
The task were harder, to fecure my own
Against the power of those already known :
For well you twift the fecret chains that bind
With gentle force the captivated mind,
Skill'd every soft attraction to employ,
Each flattering hope, and each alluring joy.
I own your genius; and from you receive
The rules of pleafing, which to you I give.
Written in the Year 1732.
WHEN Delia on the plain appears,
Aw'd by a thousand tender fears,
I would approach, but dare not move :
Tell me, my heart, if this be love?
Whene'er she speaks, my ravish'd ear
No other voice but hers can hear,
No other wit but hers approve :
Tell me, my heart, if this be love?
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