Lady Marywortley Montagu(1689–1762)
A Receipt to Cure the Vapors
I
Why will Delia thus retire,
And idly languish life away
While the sighing crowd admire,
'Tis too soon for hartshorn tea:5
II
All those dismal looks and fretting
Cannot Damon's life restore;
Long ago the worms have eat him,
You can never see him more.
Ill
O n c e again consult your toilette,6
In the glass 0 your face review:mirror
So m u c h weeping soon will spoil it,
And no spring your charms renew.
I, like you, was born a woman,
Well I know what vapors mean:
T h e disease, alas! is c o m m o n ;
Single, we have all the spleen.7
All the morals that they tell us,
Never cured the sorrow yet:
C h u s e , among the pretty fellows,
O n e of honor, youth, and wit.
VI
Prithee hear him every morning
At the least an hour or two;
O n c e again at night returning—
I believe the dose will do.
ca. 17301748