[Page 47]

The Beau to the Virtuosos;

alluding to a Proposal for the Publication of a Set of BUTTERFLIES.

By the Same.
1 HAIL curious wights, to whom so fair
2 The form of mortal flies is!
3 Who deem those grubs beyond compare,
4 Which common sense despises.
5 Whether your prey, in gardens found,
6 Be urg'd thro' walks and allies;
7 Whether o'er hill, morass or mound,
8 You make more desperate sallies;
9 Amid the fury of the chace,
10 No rocks could e'er retard you;
11 Blest, if a fly repay the race,
12 Or painted wing reward you.
13 'Twas thus
* See Virgil.
Camilla, o'er the plain,
14 Pursu'd the glittering stranger;
15 Still ey'd the purple's pleasing stain,
16 And knew not fear nor danger.
[Page 48]
17 'Tis you dispense the fav'rite meat
18 To nature's filmy people;
19 Know what conserves they chuse to eat,
20 And what liqueurs, to tipple.
21 'Tis you protect their pregnant hour;
22 And when the birth's at hand,
23 Exerting your obstetric pow'r,
24 Prevent a mothless land.
25 Yet oh! my friends! howe'er your view
26 Above gross objects rises;
27 Whate'er refinements you pursue,
28 Hear what a beau advises.
29 A beau, that, weigh'd with your's, must prize
30 Domitian's idle passion;
31 Who sought the death of teazing flies
32 And not their propagation.
33 Let *****'s eyes more deeply warm,
34 Nor foolishly determine
35 To slight fair Nature's loveliest form,
36 And sigh for Nature's vermin.
37 And speak with some respect of beaux;
38 No more, as triflers, treat 'em:
39 'Tis better learn to save one's cloaths,
40 Than cherish moths that eat 'em.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): The Beau to the Virtuosos; alluding to a Proposal for the Publication of a Set of BUTTERFLIES.
Author: William Shenstone
Themes: manners; animals
Genres: mock heroic; satire
References: DMI 27240

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Source edition

Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. V. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 47-48. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.005) (Page images digitized by the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive from a copy in the archive's library.)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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