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FABLE [08] VIII.
The Lady and the Wasp.
1 What whispers must the Beauty bear!
2 What hourly nonsense haunts her ear!
3 Where-e'er her eyes dispense their charms
4 Impertinence around her swarms.
5 Did not the tender nonsense strike,
6 Contempt and scorn might look dislike,
[Page 26]7 Forbidding airs might thin the place,
8 The slightest flap a fly can chase.
9 But who can drive the num'rous breed?
10 Chase one, another will succeed.
11 Who knows a fool, must know his brother;
12 One fop will recommend another;
13 And with this plague she's rightly curst,
14 Because she listen'd to the first.
15 As Doris, at her toilette's duty,
16 Sate meditating on her beauty,
17 She now was pensive, now was gay,
18 And loll'd the sultry hours away.
19 As thus in indolence she lyes,
20 A giddy wasp around her flies,
21 He now advances, now retires,
22 Now to her neck and cheek aspires;
23 Her fan in vain defends her charms,
24 Swift he returns, again alarms,
[Page 27]25 For by repulse he bolder grew,
26 Perch'd on her lip and sipt the dew.
27 She frowns, she frets. Good Gods, she crys,
28 Protect me from these teazing flys!
29 Of all the plagues that heav'n hath sent
30 A wasp is most impertinent.
31 The hov'ring insect thus complain'd.
32 Am I then slighted, scorn'd, disdain'd?
33 Can such offence your anger wake?
34 'Twas beauty caus'd the bold mistake.
35 Those cherry lips that breathe perfume,
36 That cheek so ripe with youthful bloom
37 Made me with strong desire pursue
38 The fairest peach that ever grew.
39 Strike him not, Jenny, Doris crys,
40 Nor murder wasps, like vulgar flys,
41 For though he's free (to do him right)
42 The creature's civil and polite.
43 In ecstasies away he posts,
44 Where-e'er he came the favour boasts,
[Page 28]45 Brags how her sweetest tea he sips,
46 And shows the sugar on his lips.
47 The hint alarm'd the forward crew.
48 Sure of success away they flew;
49 They share the daintys of the day,
50 Round her with airy musick play,
51 And now they flutter, now they rest,
52 Now soar again, and skim her breast,
53 Nor were they banish'd, 'till she found
54 That wasps have stings, and felt the wound.
Source edition
Gay, John, 1685-1732. FABLES. By Mr. GAY. London: Printed for J. Tonson and J. Watts, MDCCXXVII., 1727, pp. 25-28. [14],173,[1]p.: ill.; 4°. (ESTC T13818)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. 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.
Other works by John Gay
- [FABLE ] INTRODUCTION TO THE FABLES. The Shepherd and the Philosopher. ()
- FABLE [01] I. The Lyon, the Tyger, and the Traveller. ()
- FABLE [02] II. The Spaniel and the Cameleon. ()
- FABLE [03] III. The Mother, the Nurse, and the Fairy. ()
- FABLE [04] IV. The Eagle, and the Assembly of Animals. ()
- FABLE [05] V. The Wild Boar and the Ram. ()
- FABLE [06] VI. The Miser and Plutus. ()
- FABLE [07] VII. The Lyon, the Fox, and the Geese. ()
- FABLE [09] IX. The Bull and the Mastiff. ()
- FABLE [10] X. The Elephant and the Bookseller. ()
- FABLE [11] XI. The Peacock, the Turkey, and Goose. ()
- FABLE [12] XII. Cupid, Hymen, and Plutus. ()
- FABLE [13] XIII. The tame Stag. ()
- FABLE [14] XIV. The Monkey who had seen the World. ()
- FABLE [15] XV. The Philosopher and the Pheasants. ()
- FABLE [16] XVI. The Pin and the Needle. ()
- FABLE [17] XVII. The Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf. ()
- FABLE [18] XVIII. The Painter who pleased No body and Every body. ()
- FABLE [19] XIX. The Lyon and the Cub. ()
- FABLE [20] XX. The Old Hen and the Cock. ()
- FABLE [21] XXI. The Rat-catcher and Cats. ()
- FABLE [22] XXII. The Goat without a beard. ()
- FABLE [23] XXIII. The Old Woman and her Cats. ()
- FABLE [24] XXIV. The Butterfly and the Snail. ()
- FABLE [25] XXV. The Scold and the Parrot. ()
- FABLE [26] XXVI. The Cur and the Mastiff. ()
- FABLE [27] XXVII. The Sick Man and the Angel. ()
- FABLE [28] XXVIII. The Persian, the Sun and the Cloud. ()
- FABLE [29] XXIX. The Fox at the point of death. ()
- FABLE [30] XXX. The Setting-dog and the Partridge. ()
- FABLE [31] XXXI. The Universal Apparition. ()
- FABLE [32] XXXII. The two Owls and the Sparrow. ()
- FABLE [33] XXXIII. The Courtier and Proteus. ()
- FABLE [34] XXXIV. The Mastiffs. ()
- FABLE [35] XXXV. The Barley-mow and the Dung-hill. ()
- FABLE [36] XXXVI. Pythagoras and the Countryman. ()
- FABLE [37] XXXVII. The Farmer's Wife and the Raven. ()
- FABLE [38] XXXVIII. The Turkey and the Ant. ()
- FABLE [39] XXXIX. The Father and Jupiter. ()
- FABLE [40] XL. The two Monkeys. ()
- FABLE [41] XLI. The Owl and the Farmer. ()
- FABLE [42] XLII. The Jugglers. ()
- FABLE [43] XLIII. The Council of Horses. ()
- FABLE [44] XLIV. The Hound and the Huntsman. ()
- FABLE [45] XLV. The Poet and the Rose. ()
- FABLE [46] XLVI. The Cur, the Horse, and the Shepherd's Dog. ()
- FABLE [47] XLVII. The Court of Death. ()
- FABLE [48] XLVIII. The Gardener and the Hog. ()
- FABLE [49] XLIX. The Man and the Flea. ()
- FABLE [50] L. The Hare and many Friends. ()