This has been done by fome, who those
Th' ador'd in Rhime wou'd kick in Profe;
And in those Ribbons wou'd have hung,
Of which melodiously they sung :

That have the hard Fate to write beft
Of thofe ftill that deserve it least
It matters not how falfe, or forc'd,

It

goes

So the best things be faid o' th' Worft;
for nothing when 'tis faid,
Only the Arrow's drawn to th' head,
Whether it be a Swan or Goofe
They level at: So Shepherds ufe
To fet the fame Mark on the Hip

Both of their found and rotten Sheep:
For Wits that carry low or wide,

Must be aim'd higher, or befide

The Mark, which elfe they ne'er come nigh,
But when they take their Aim awry. {
But I do wonder you fhou'd chufe

This way t' attack me with your Mufe,
As one cut out to pafs your Tricks on,

With Fulhams of Poetick Fiction:

I rather hop'd, I shou'd no more A
Hear from you o'th' Gallanting Score:
For hard Dry-Baftings ufe to prove or” ir toli
The readiest Remedies of Love;

id Next a Dry-Dyet: But if thofe fail, or ( Yet this uneafie Loop-hol'd Gaol, našli pod In which y' are bamper'd by the Fet-Lock,![ Cannot but put y' in Mind of Wedlock o't Wedlock that's worse than any Hole here, If that may serve you for a Cooler T'allay your Metal, all a-gog' Upon a Wife, the heavi'r Clog Nor rather thank your gentler Fate,) That, for a bruis'd or broken Pate,

Has free'd you from those Knobs that grow A
Much harder on the Marry'd Brow :

But if no Dread can cool your Courage,
From vent'ring on that Dragon, Marriage;
Yet give me Quarter, and advance

To nobler Aims your Puiffance:
Level at Beauty, and at Wit,

The fairest Mark is eafieft hit.

Quoth Hudibras, I'm before-hand,
In that already, with your Command:
For where does Beauty and high Wit
But in your Conftellation meet?

Quoth the, What does a Match imply,
But Likeness and Equality?

I know you cannot think me fit,
To be th' Toke-Fellow of your Wit:
Nor take one of fo mean Deferts,"
To be the Partner of your Parts`;
A Grace, which if I cou'd believe,
I've not the Confcience to receive.
That Confcience, quoth Hudibras,
Is mif-inform'd; I'll ftate the Cafe:
A Man may be a Legal Donor,

Of any thing whereof he's Owner:
And may confer it where he lifts,
I' th' Judgments of all Cafuifts:
Then Wit, and Parts, and Valour may
Be ali'nate, and made away

By thofe that are Proprietors,

As I may give, or fell my Horfe.

Quoth

Quoth fhe, I grant the Cafe is true,

And proper 'twixt your Hørfe and you 3.
But whether I may take, as well
As you may give away, or fell?

Buyers you know are bid beware;

And worse than Thieves Receivers are. T
How fhall I answer Hue and Cry, & wala P
For a Roan-Gelding twelve Hands high,
All fpurr'd and fwitch'd, a Lock on's Hoof, T
A forrel Main? Can I bring Proof,

4

Where, when, by whom, and what h' were And in the open Market told for?on (fold for, Or fhou'd I take you for a Stray,

si sa/91 You must be kept a Year and Day, mo I main

(E'er I can own you here i' th' Pound,dor Where, if y' are fought, you may be found: And in the mean time I must pay

For all your Provender and Hay!
Quoth he, It ftands me much upon
T'enervate this Objection,
And prove my felf, by Topick clear,
No Gelding, as you wou'd infer.

Lofs of Virility's averr'd

To be the Cause of Lofs of Beard,

That does (like Embrio in the Womb)
Abortive on the Chin become.

This firft a Woman did invent,

In Envy of Man's Ornament.

Semiramis of Babylon,

Who first of all cut Men o'th' Stone,

To mar their Beards, and laid Foundation
Of Sow-Geldering Operation :

Look on this Beard, and tell me whether
Eunuchs wear fuch, or Geldings either ?
Next it appears, I am no Horse,
That I can argue and difcourfe;

Have but two Legs, and ne'er a Tail;
Quoth fhe, That nothing will avail;

For fome Philofophers of late here

Write, that Men have four Legs by Nature, And that'tis Custom makes them go

As 'twas in Germany made good st
B'a Boy that loft himself in a Wood;

And