صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

He could not answer to his fame
The triumphs of that stubborn dame,
A nymph so hard to be subdued,
Who neither was coquette nor prude,
'I find, (said he) she wants a Doctor
Both to adore her and instruct her:
I'll give her what she most admires
Among those venerable sires.
Cadenus is a subject fit,
Grown old in politics and wit,
Caress'd by ministers of state,
Of half mankind the dread and hate:
Whate'er vexations love attend,
She need no rivals apprehend.
Her sex, with universal voice,
Must laugh at her capricious choice.'
Cadenus many things had writ;
Vanessa much esteem'd his wit,
And call'd for his Poetic Works;
Meantime the boy in secret lurks,
And, while the book was in her hand,
The urchin from his private stand
Took aim, and shot with all his strength
A dart of such prodigious length,
It pierc'd the feeble volume through,
And deep transfix'd her bosom too.
Some lines, more moving than the rest,
Stuck to the point that pierc'd her breast,
And, borne directly to the heart,
With pains unknown increas'd her smart.
Vanessa, not in years a score,
Dreams of a gown of forty-four;
Imaginary charms can find

In eyes with reading almost blind.
Cadenus now no more appears

Declin'd in health, advanc'd in years;

She fancies music in his tongue,

Nor farther looks, but thinks him young. What mariner is not afraid

To venture in a ship decay'd?

What planter will attempt to yoke
A sapling with a falling oak?
As years increase she brighter shines,
Cadenus with each day declines;
And he must fall a prey to time,
While she continues in her prime.
Cadenus, common forms apart,
In every scene had kept his heart;
Had sigh'd and languish'd, vow'd and writ,
For pastime, or to show his wit:
But time, and books, and state-affairs,
Had spoil'd his fashionable airs:
He now could praise, esteem, approve,
But understood not what was love.
His conduct might have made him stil'd
A father, and the nymph his child.
That innocent delight he took
To see the virgin mind her book,
Was but the master's secret joy
In school to hear the finest boy.
Her knowledge with her fancy grew;
She hourly press'd for something new;
Ideas came into her mind

So fast, his lessons lagg'd behind;
She reason'd without plodding long,
Nor ever gave her judgment wrong.
But now a sudden change was wrought,
She minds no longer what he taught.
Cadenus was amaz'd to find
Such marks of a distracted mind;
For though she seem'd to listen more

To all he spoke than e'er before,

He found her thoughts would absent range,

Yet guess'd not whence could spring the change.

And first he modestly conjectures

His pupil might be tir'd with lectures,

Which help'd to mortify his pride,
Yet gave him not the heart to chide :
But in a mild dejected strain,
At last he ventur'd to complain;

Said she should be no longer teas'd;

Might have her freedom when she pleas'd;
Was now convinc'd he acted wrong
To hide her from the world so long,
And in dull studies to engage

One of her tender sex and age;
That every nymph with envy own'd
How she might shine in the grand monde,
And every shepherd was undone

To see her cloister'd like a nun.
This was a visionary scheme;

He wak'd and found it but a dream;
A project far above his skill,

For nature must be nature still.
If he was bolder than became

A scholar to a courtly dame,

She might excuse a man of letters;
Thus tutors often treat their betters:
And since his talk offensive grew,
He came to take his last adieu.

Vanessa, fill'd with just disdain,
Would still her dignity maintain,
Instructed from her early years
To scorn the art of female tears.

Had he employ'd his time so long
To teach her what was right and wrong,
Yet could such notions entertain,

That all his lectures were in vain?
She own'd the wandering of her thoughts,
But he must answer for her faults.
She well remember'd, to her cost,
That all his lessons were not lost:
Two maxims she could still produce,
And sad experience taught their use,
That virtue, pleas'd by being shown,
Knows nothing which it dares not own;
Can make us without fear disclose
Our inmost secrets to our foes:
That common forms were not design'd
Directors to a noble mind.

'Now, (said the nymph) I'll let you see
My actions with your rules agree;
That I can vulgar forms despise,
And have no secrets to disguise.
I knew, by what you said and writ,
How dangerous things were men of wit;
You caution'd me against their charms,
But never gave me equal arms;

Your lessons found the weakest part,
Aim'd at the head, but reach'd the heart.'
Cadenus felt within him rise

Shame, disappointment, guilt, surprise:
He knew not how to reconcile
Such language with her usual style;
And yet her words were so exprest,
He could not hope she spoke in jest.
His thoughts had wholly been confin'd
To form and cultivate her mind:
He hardly knew, till he was told,
Whether the nymph were young or old;
Had met her in a public place,
Without distinguishing her face:
Much less could his declining age
Vanessa's earliest thoughts engage;
And if her youth indifference met,
His person must contempt beget:
Or, grant her passion be sincere,
How shall his innocence be clear!
Appearances were all so strong,

The world must think him in the wrong;
Would say he made a treacherous use
Of wit, to flatter and seduce :

The Town would swear he had betray'd,
By magic spells, the harmless maid;
And every beau would have his jokes,
'That scholars were like other folks;
That when Platonic flights were over,
The tutor turn'd a mortal lover.
So tender of the young and fair!
It show'd a true paternal care--

Five thousand guineas in her purse! The Doctor might have fancied worse." Hardly at length he silence broke, And falter'd every word he spoke, Interpreting her complaisance, Just as a man sans consequence, She rallied well, he always knew; Her manner now was something new; And what she spoke was in an air As serious as a tragic player: But those who aim at ridicule Should fix upon some certain rule, Which fairly hints they are in jest, Else he must enter his protest; For let a man be ne'er so wise, He may be caught with sober lies; A science which he never taught, And, to be free, was dearly bought; For, take it in its proper light, 'Tis just what coxcombs call a Bite. But not to dwell on things minute, Vanessa finish'd the dispute, Brought weighty arguments to prove That reason was her guide in love: She thought he had himself describ'd His doctrines when she first imbib'd: What he had planted now was grown; His virtues she might call her own: As he approves, as he dislikes, Love or contempt her fancy strikes. Self-love in nature rooted fast, Attends us first, and leaves us last. Why she likes him, admire not at her; She loves herself, and that's the matter. How was her tutor wont to praise The geniuses of ancient days! (Those authors he so oft had nam'd, For learning, wit, and wisdom, fam'd) Was struck with love, esteem, and awe, For persons whom he never saw.

« السابقةمتابعة »