And then throw all their weapons down: 
Though, by the politician’s scheme,
Whoe’er arrives at power supreme,
Those arts, by which at first they gain it,
They still must practise to maintain it. 
  What various ways our females take
To pass for wits before a rake! 
And in the fruitless search pursue
All other methods but the true! 
  Some try to learn polite behaviour
By reading books against their Saviour;
Some call it witty to reflect
On ev’ry natural defect;
Some shew they never want explaining
To comprehend a double meaning. 
But sure a tell-tale out of school
Is of all wits the greatest fool;
Whose rank imagination fills
Her heart, and from her lips distils;
You’d think she utter’d from behind,
Or at her mouth was breaking wind. 
  Why is a handsome wife ador’d
By every coxcomb but her lord? 
From yonder puppet-man inquire,
Who wisely hides his wood and wire;
Shows Sheba’s queen completely drest,
And Solomon in royal vest: 
But view them litter’d on the floor,
Or strung on pegs behind the door;
Punch is exactly of a piece
With Lorrain’s duke, and prince of Greece. 
  A prudent builder should forecast
How long the stuff is like to last;
And carefully observe the ground,
To build on some foundation sound. 
What house, when its materials crumble,
Must not inevitably tumble? 
What edifice can long endure
Raised on a basis unsecure? 
Rash mortals, ere you take a wife,
Contrive your pile to last for life: 
Since beauty scarce endures a day,
And youth so swiftly glides away;
Why will you make yourself a bubble,
To build on sand with hay and stubble? 
  On sense and wit your passion found,
By decency cemented round;
Let prudence with good-nature strive,
To keep esteem and love alive. 
Then come old age whene’er it will,
Your friendship shall continue still: 
And thus a mutual gentle fire
Shall never but with life expire.

[Footnote 1:  A delicate way of speaking of a lady retiring behind a bush in a garden.—­W.  E. B.]

[Footnote 2: 
  “Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull
  Strong without rage, without o’erflowing, full.” 
DENHAM, Cooper’s Hill.]

[Footnote 3:  A veil with which the Roman brides covered themselves when going to be married.—­W.  E. B.]

[Footnote 4:  Marriage song, sung at weddings.—­W.  E. B.]

[Footnote 5:  Diana.]

[Footnote 6:  Who married Thetis, the Nereid, by whom he became the father of Achilles.—­Ovid, “Metamorph.,” lib. xi, 221, seq.—­W.  E. B.]

[Footnote 7:  See Ovid, “Metamorph.,” lib. iii.—­W.  E. B.]

[Footnote 8:  A precept of Pythagoras.  Hence, in French argot, beans, as causing wind, are called musiciens.—­W.  E. B.]

[Footnote 9:  Provocative of perspiration and urine.]