AMYNTAS.
17
The stag our game, which I, with warm career
Persued, the foremost; overtook, and killed.
Daphne farewell.
Persued, the foremost; overtook, and killed.
Daphne farewell.
DAPHNE.
Sylvia farewel, but know
What to our gentle sex we women owe;
Know, that the boisterous pleasure of the chace
Is not the province of the female race.
It brutifies the temper of a man;
How distant is it then from woman's plan!
Our spirits ought to keep a tender strain,
Refine delight, and blunt the sting of pain.
Abjure the chace; be present to thy mind,
The sphere by heaven to rural charms assigned.
—Let rough barbarians bound o'er hill and plain,
Be ours the talk to bless the humble swain;
The sameness of his station to beguile,
Crown his gay hours, and make his labour smile:
And when the business of the day is done,
When he hies homeward with the setting sun,
Sylvia farewel, but know
What to our gentle sex we women owe;
Know, that the boisterous pleasure of the chace
Is not the province of the female race.
It brutifies the temper of a man;
How distant is it then from woman's plan!
Our spirits ought to keep a tender strain,
Refine delight, and blunt the sting of pain.
Abjure the chace; be present to thy mind,
The sphere by heaven to rural charms assigned.
—Let rough barbarians bound o'er hill and plain,
Be ours the talk to bless the humble swain;
The sameness of his station to beguile,
Crown his gay hours, and make his labour smile:
And when the business of the day is done,
When he hies homeward with the setting sun,
To
