Love ſtole in his breaſt at the ſight of the maid,
for he could not her charms but adore;
And if thou art cruel, dear Hebe, he ſaid,
I ſurely ſhall have thee the more.
Such tenderneſs melted her into ſurpriſe
(for Hebe was never unkind),
And all of a ſudden love glow’d in her eyes,
which ſpoke the dictates of her mind.
They ſat themſelves down at the foot of a hill,
and chatted together ſo free,
Till Ralph, the young ſwain, made ſigns to the mill,
whilft claſping the nymph on his knee;
And thus, in a tranſport the miller replied,
Thy charms, deareſt girl, are divine!
Then preſs’d her ſweet lips, and with rapture he cry’d,
O Hebe! conſent to be mine!
She liſten’d attentive to all his requeſt,
and freely comply’d to his will;
And now, to her ſolace, ſhe’s married and bleſt
with honeſt young Ralph of the mill.
Peace follows their footſteps wherever they go,
in bliſs all their hours they are ſpent:
But, leaders of faſhion, I’d have you to know,
their happineſs flows from content.
B
