So the unhappy pair, by Hymen's pow'r cy
Together join'd in fome ill-fated hour,

The more they strive their freedom to regain,
The fafter binds th' indiffoluble chain.

Let each fair maid, who fears to be difgrac'd,
Ever be fure to tye her garter faft,

Left the loos'd ftring, amidit the public ball,

A wish'd for prize to fome proud fop fhould fall,
Who the rich treafure fhall triumphant fhew,
And with warm blufhes caufe her cheeks to glow.

But yet, (as Fortune by the felf fame ways
She humbles many,, fome delights to raife)
It happen'd once, a fair illuftrious dame
By fuch neglect acquir'd immortal fame.
And hence the radiant Star and Garter blue R
BRITANNIA'S nobles grace, if Fame, fays true:
Hence ftill, PLANTAGENET, thy beauties bloom,
Tho' long fince moulder'd in the dufky tomb,
Still thy loft Garter is thy fov'reign's care,
And what each royal breaft is proud to wear.
But let me now my lovely charge remind
Left they forgetful leave their fans behind; --
Lay not, ye fair, the pretty toy afide,
A toy at once difplay'd, for ule and pride,
A wond'rous engine, that by magick charms,.
Cools your own breaft, and ev'ry other's warms,
What daring bard fhall e'er attempt to tell.
The pow'rs, that in this little weapon dwell?

What

What verfe can e'er explain its various parts,
Its numerous uses, motions, charms and arts ?
Its painted folds, that oft' extended wide,
Th' afflicted fair one's blubber'd beauties hide,
When fecret förrows her fad bofom fill,
If STREPHON is unkind, or SHOCK is ill:
Its flicks, on which her eyes dejected pore,
And pointing fingers number o'er and o'er,
When the kind virgin burns with fecret shame,
Dies to confent, yet fears to own her flame;
Its shake triumphant, its victorious clap,
Its angry flutter, and its wanton tap?

Forbear, my Mufe, th' extenfive theme to fing,
Nor truft in fuch a flight thy tender wing;
Rather do you in humble lines proclaim,

From whence this engine took its form and name,
Say from what cause it first deriv'd its birth,
How form'd in heav'n, how thence deduc'd to earth.

Once in Arcadia, that fam'd feat of love,
There liv'd a nymph, the pride of all the grove,
A lovely nymph, adorn'd with ev'ry grace,
An eafy fhape, and fweetly-blooming face,
FANNY the damfel's name, as chafte as fair,
Each virgin's envy, and each swain's despair;
To charm her ear the rival fhepherds fing,
Blow the foft flute, and wake the trembling ftring,
For her they leave their wand'ring flocks to rove,
Whilft FANNY's name refounds thro' ev'ry grove,
And spreads on every tree, inclos'd in knots of love;

As

AS FIELDING'S now, her eyes all hearts inflame,
Like her in beauty, as alike in name.

"Twas when the summer fun, now mounted high, With fiercer beams had scorch'd the glowing sky, Beneath the covert of a cooling fhade,

To fhun the heat, this lovely nymph was lay'd;
The fultry weather o'er her cheeks had spread
A blush, that added to their native red,
And her fair breafts, as polifh'd marble white,
Were half conceal'd, and half expos'd to fight;
EOLUS the mighty God, whom winds obey,
Obferv'd the beauteous maid, as thus fhe lay,
O'er all her charms he gaz'd with fond delight,
And fuck'd in poifon at the dangerous fight;
He fighs, he burns; at last declares his pain,
But ftill he fighs, and ftill he wooes in vain
The cruel nymph, regardless of his moan,
Minds not his flame, uneasy with her own;
But ftill complains, that he who rul'd the air
Would not command one Zephyr to repair
Around her face, nor gentle breeze to play
Thro' the dark glade, to cool the fultry day;
By love incited, and the hopes of joy,
Th' ingenious God contriv'd this pretty toy,
With gales inceffant to relieve her flame;
And call'd it FAN, from lovely FANNY's name.

CANTO

N

CANTO II.

WOW fee prepar'd to lead the fprightly dance,

The lovely nymphs, and well drefs'd youths advance; The spacious room receives its jovial guest,

And the floor shakes with pleafing weight opprefs'd:
Thick rang'd on every fide, with various dyes.
The fair in gloffy filks our fight furprize :
So, in a garden bath'd with genial show'rs,
A thousand forts of variegated flow'rs,
Jonquils, carnations, pinks, and tulips rife,
And in a gay confufion charm our eyes.

High o'er their heads, with num'rous candles bright,
Large fconces fhed their sparkling beams of light,
Their sparkling beams that still more brightly glow,
Reflected back from gems, and eyes below :
Unnumber'd fans to cool the crowded fair
With breathing Zephyrs move the circling air,
The fprightly fiddle, and the founding lyre
Each youthful breast with gen'rous warmth inspire;
Fraught with all joys the blissful moments fly,
While mufic melts the ear, and beauty charms the eye.
Now let the youth, to whofe fuperior place

It first belongs the fplendid ball to grace,
With humble bow, and ready hand prepare,
Forth from the crowd to lead his chofen fair;
The fair fhall not his kind request deny,
But to the pleafing toil with equal ardor fly.

But

But ftay, rafh pair, not yet untaught advance, First hear the Mufe, ere you attempt to dance :

*

By art directed o'er the foaming tide.

Secure from rocks the painted veffels glide;
By art the chariot fcours the dusty plain,

Springs at the whip, and † hears the ftrait'ning rein;
To art our bodies muft obedient prove,

If e'er we hope with graceful ease to move.

Long was the dancing art unfix'd, and free,
Hence loft in error and uncertainty,
No precepts did it mind, or rules obey,
But every mafter taught a diff'rent way;
Hence ere each new-born dance was fully try'd,
The lovely product ev'n in blooming dy'd,
Thro' various hands in wild confufion tofs'd,
Its steps were alter'd, and its beauties loft;
Till FUILLET, the pride of GALLIA, rofe,
And did the dance in characters compofe,
Each lovely grace by certain marks he taught,
And every step in lafting volumes wrote:
Hence o'er the world this pleafing art shall spread,
And every dance in ev'ry clime be read,

Fuillet wrote the Art of Dancing by characters in French, fince tranflated by Weaver.

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