PROSERPINE'S RAGOUT. Mary Leapor Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T127827 p. 413 K101776.000 Leapor, Mrs. (Mary), 1722-1746. Poems upon several occasions: By Mrs. Leapor of Brackley in Northamptonshire. London printed: and sold by J. Roberts 1748 pp. 247-249. 15,[5],282p. ; 8⁰.

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PROSERPINE'S RAGOUT . AS once grave Pluto drove his royal Wheels , O'er the large Confines of the Stygian Fields : With kingly Port he sat , and by his Side , Rode his fair Captive , now his awful Bride ; But from the Lakes a sulph'rous Mist invades , And strikes the fainting Empress of the Shades . The trembling Queen is seiz'd with sickly Yawns , With griping Colicks and with feverish Qualms . Back to the Palace was the general Cry , Before the Lash her sable Coursers fly : There rests the Dame , and sought her Royal Bed , Where the soft Pillows rais'd her drooping Head : Restoring Lenitives were sought in vain , To cool her Vitals and asswage her Pain . On nothing would the peevish Matron feed ; Then useful Mercury was call'd with speed , And sent on Earth some curious Dish to frame , Of light Digestion for the sickly Dame . To Earth he posted where he quickly found , Proper Ingredients on our fertile Ground ; Here first he seiz'd as nonsubstantial Foods , The Courtiers Friendship and the Zeal of Prudes ; The Sighs of Widowers , and blends with those The Vows of Lovers and the Brains of Beaux ; The Miser's Charity , the Drunkard's Cares ; The Wealth of Poets , and the Tears of Heirs ; Philander's Patience , when his Lord denies The Frowns of Celia , when her Heart complies : Then with a Breath along the Air he drives The Love of Husbands , and the Charms of Wives ; Where Trifles dwell sagacious Hermes knew , The winged Youth to lordly Senates flew ; From thence Debates and long Harangues to cull , And steep'd them softly in a Statesman's Skull . And now the frothy Dish began to seem , A proper Viand for his sickly Queen : To crown the rest , he met by lucky Chance The Wit of England , and the Truth of France .