Beyond the fix'd and settl'd Rules Of Vice and Virtue in the Schools, Beyond the Letter of the Law, Which keeps our Men and Maids in Awe, The better Sort should set before 'em...
Ye careful Angels, whom eternal Fate Ordains, on Earth and human Acts to wait; Who turn with secret Pow'r this restless Ball, And bid predestin'd Empires rise and fall:...
Out from the injured canvas, Kneller, strike These lines too faint; the picture is not like. Exalt thy thought, and try thy toil again: Dreadful in arms, on Landen's glorious plain...
The bewailing of man's miseries hath been elegantly and copiously set forth by many, in the writings as well of philosophers as divines; and it is both a pleasant and a profitable contemplation....
Reading ends in melancholy, Wine breeds vices and diseases, Wealth is but care, and love but folly, Only friendship truly pleases. My wealth, my books, my flask, my Molly,...
It always has been a thought discreet To know the company you meet; And sure there may be secret danger In talking much before a stranger. Agreed: what then? Then drink your ale;...
Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing, Must we no longer live together? And dost thou prune thy trembling wing, To take thy flight thou know'st not whither? Thy humorous vein, thy pleasing folly,...
The Sceptics think 'twas long ago Since gods came down incognito To see who were their friends or foes, And how our actions fell or rose; That since they gave things their beginning,...
Two mice, dear boy, of genteel fashion, And, what is more, good education, Frolic and gay, in infant years Equally shared their parents' cares. The sire of these two babes (poor creature)...
Be it right or wrong, these men among On women do complayne; Affyrmynge this, how that it is A labour spent in vaine To love them wele; for never a dele...
Hah! how the laurel, great Apollo's tree, And all the cavern shakes! Far off, far off, The man that is unhallow'd: for the god, The god approaches. Hark! he knocks; the gates...
Behind an unfrequented glade, Where yew and myrtle mix their shade, A widow Turtle pensive sat, And wept her murder'd lover's fate. The Sparrow chanced that way to walk,...
Lords, knights, and squires, the numerous band That wear the fair Miss Mary's fetters, Were summoned by her high command To show their passions by their letters.
When Jove lay bless'd in his Alcm'na's charms, Three nights in one he press'd her in his arms; The sun lay set, and conscious nature strove To shade her god, and to prolong his love....