Page:Poetical Works of the Right Hon. Geo. Granville.djvu/100

Of rich brocade a ſhining robe ſhe wears,5
And gems ſurround her lovely neck like ſtars.
Drawn by ſix grays of the proud Belgian kind,
With a long train of livery beaus behind,
She charms the Park, and ſets all hearts on fire,
The ladies’ envy and the men’s deſire.10
Beholding thus, “O happy as a queen!”
We cry. But ſhift the gaudy flatt’ring ſcene;
View her at home in her domeſtic light,
For thither ſhe muſt come, at leaſt at night,
What has ſhe there? a ſurly ill-bred lord,15
Who chides, and ſnaps her up at ev’ry word;
A brutal ſot, who, while ſhe holds his head,
With drunken filth bedaubs the nuptial bed:
Sick to the heart, ſhe breathes the nauſeous fume
Of odious ſteams that poiſon all the room:20
Weeping all night the trembling creature lies,
And counts the tedious hours when ſhe may riſe;
But moſt ſhe fears leſt, waking, ſhe ſhould find,
To make amends, the monſter would be kind.
Thoſe matchleſs beauties, worthy of a god,25
Muſt bear, tho’ much averſe, the loathſome load.
What then may be the chance that next enſues?
Some vile diſeaſe freſh reeking from the ſtews:
The ſecret venom, circling in her veins,
Works thro’ her ſkin, and burſts in bloating ſtains:30
Her checks their freſhneſs loſe and wonted grace,
And an unuſual paleneſs ſpreads her face;