1712-1757.
Fable IX. The Farmer, the Spaniel, and the Cat.
Can't I another's face commend,
And to her virtues be a friend,
But instantly your forehead lowers,
As if her merit lessened yours?
Fable X. The Spider and the Bee.
The maid who modestly conceals
Her beauties, while she hides, reveals;
Give but a glimpse, and fancy draws
Whate'er the Grecian Venus was.
But from the hoop's bewitching round,
Her very shoe has power to wound.
The Happy Marriage.
Time still, as he flies, adds increase to her truth,
And gives to her mind what he steals from her youth.
The Gamester. Act iii. Sc. 4.
'Tis now the summer of your youth: time has not cropt the roses from your cheek, though sorrow long has washed them.