Dare I in fuch momentous points advise, I should condemn the hoop's enormous fize : Of ills I fpeak, by long experience found;

Oft have I trod th' immeafurable round,

And mourn'd my fhins, bruis'd black with many a wound.
Nor fhould the tighten'd stays, too ftraitly lac'd,
In whale-bone bondage gall the flender waift;
Nor waving lappets fhould the dancing fair,
Nor ruffles edg'd with dangling fringes wear:
Oft will the cobweb ornaments catch hold
On the approaching button, rough with gold;
Nor force, nor art, can then the bonds divide,
When once th' entangled Gordian knot is ty’d.
So the unhappy pair, by Hymen's pow'r,
Together join'd in fome ill-fated hour;
The more they firive their freedom to regain,
The fafter binds th' indiffoluble chain.

Let each fair maid, who fears to be disgrac'd,
Ever be fure to tie her garter faft ;
Left the loos'd string, amidst the publick ball,
A wish'd-for prize to fome proud fop fhould fall,
Who the rich treasure fhall triumphant fhew,
And with warm blushes cause her cheeks to glow.
But yet, (as Fortune, by the self-fame ways
She humbles many, fome delights to raise)
It happen'd once, a fair illuftrious dame
By fuch neglect acquir'd immortal fame :
And hence the radiant ftar and garter blue
Britannia's nobles grace, if Fame says true;
Hence ftill, Plantagenet, thy beauties bloom,
Tho' long fince moulder'd in the dusky tomb
Still thy loft garter is thy fov'reign's care,
And what each royal breaft is proud to wear.
But let me now my lovely charge remind,
Left they, forgetful, leave their fans behind.

Lay

Lay not, ye fair, the pretty toy afide; on gale &
A toy, at once display'd for use and pride şi ai vdrla
A wondrous engine, that by magick charmsfodw any
Cools
your own breast, and ev'ry other's warms.
What daring bard shall e'er attempt to tell,

The pow'rs that in this little weapon dwell pod od
What verfe can e'er explain it's various parts,

It's numerous ufes; motions, charms, and artsfuld A
It's painted folds, that oft extended wide, si incon
Th' afflicted fair-one's blubber'd beauties hide ad, ka
When fecret forrows her fad bofom fill, vil
If Strephon is unkind, or Shock is ill

It's sticks, on which her eyes dejected pore,

And pointing fingers number o'er and o'er, i ri
When the kind virgin burns with fecret fhame, M
Dies to confent, yet fears to own her flame

It's shake triumphant, it's victorious clap, *) ***
It's angry flutter, and it's wanton tap

Forbear, my Mufe, th' extenfive theme to fing,

Nor truft in fuch a flight thy tender wing
Rather do you in humble lines proclaim

From whence this engine took it's form and name;
Say from what cause it firft deriv'd it's birth,"
How form'd in heav'n, how thence dedue'd to earth.
Once, in Arcadia, that fam'd feat of love,
There liv'd a nymph, the pride of all the grove;
A lovely nymph, adorn'd with ev'ry grace,
An easy shape, and fweetly blooming face:
Fanny the damfel's name, as chaste as fair;
Each virgin's envy, and each swain's despair.
To charm her ear the rival shepherds fing,
Blow the foft flute, and wake the trembling ftring;
For her they leave their wand'ring flocks to rove,
Whilft Fanny's name refounds thro' ev'ry grove,
And spreads on ev'ry tree, inclos'd in knots of love:
F

I

As

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As Fielding's now, her eyes all hearts inflame;
Like her in beauty, as alike in name.

'Twas when the summer fun, now mounted high, With fiercer beams had fcorch'd the glowing sky, Beneath the covert of a cooling fhade,

To fhun the heat, this lovely nymph was laid:
The fultry weather o'er her cheeks had spread
A blush, that added to their native red;
And her fair breafts, as polifh'd marble white,
Were half conceal'd, and half expos'd to fight.
Eolus, the mighty god whom winds obey,
Obferv'd the beauteous maid as thus fhe lay;
O'er all her charms he gaz'd with fond delight,
And fuck'd in poifon at the dangerous fight.
He fighs, he burns; at laft declares his pain;
But ftill he fighs, and still he wooes in vain s
The cruel nymph, regardless of his moan,
Minds not his flame, uneafy with her own;
But ftill complains, that he who rul'd the air,
Would not command one Zephyr to repair
Around her face, nor gentle breeze to play
Thro' the dark glade, to cool the fultry day,
By love incited, and the hopes of joy,
Th' ingenious god contriv'd this pretty toy,
With gales inceffant to relieve her flame,
And call'd it Fan, from lovely Fanny's name.

CANTO II.

OW fee, prepar'd to lead the fprightly dance,

Now

The lovely nymphs, and well-drefs'd youths, advance;

The fpacious room receives each jovial guest,

And the floor shakes, with pleafing weight opprefs'd:
Thick rang'd on ev'ry fide, with various dyes,

The fair in gloffy filks our fight furprize.

So in a garden, bath'd with genial fhow'rs,
A thousand forts of variegated flow'rs;
Jonquils, carnations, pinks, and tulips, rife,
And in a gay confusion charm our eyes.

High o'er their heads, with num'rous candles bright,
Large fconces fhed their sparkling beams of light;
Their sparkling beams, that ftill more brightly glow,
Reflected back from gems and eyes below.
Unnumber'd fans, to cool the crouded fair,
With breathing Zephyrs move the circling air
The sprightly fiddle, and the founding lyre,
Each youthful breaft with gen'rous warmth infpire.
Fraught with all joys the blissful moments fly,

While mufick melts the ear, and beauty charms the eye.
Now let the youth, to whofe fuperior place
It firft belongs the fplendid ball to grace,
With humble bow and ready hand prepare,
Forth from the crowd to lead his chofen fair :
The fair fhall not his kind request deny,
But to the pleafing toil with equal ardour fly.

But ftay, rafh pair! not yet, untaught, advance;
First hear the Muse, ere you attempt to dance,
By art directed o'er the foaming tide,
Secure from rocks the painted veffels glide s
By art the chariot fcours the dafty plain,
Springs at the whip, and hears the ftrait'ning rein t
To art our bodies muft obedient prove,

If e'er we hope with graceful eafe to move.
Long was the dancing art unfix'd and free,
Hence loft in error and uncertainty;
No precepts did in mind or rules obey,

But ev'ry mafter taught a diff'rent way;
Hence, ere each new-born dance was fully try'd,
The lovely product e'en in blooming dy'd;
Thro' various hands in wild confufion tofs'd,
It's fteps were alter'd, and it's beauties loft;
F2

Till

Till Fuillet, the pride of Gallia, rofe,bug & ai
And did the dance in characters compofe;

Each lovely grace by certain marks he taught,

And ev'ry step in lafting volumes wrote.

Hence o'er the world this pleafing art fhall spread, bi
And ev'ry dance in ev'ry clime be read;

41

By diftant masters shall each step be feen, ind
Tho' mountains rife, and oceans roar between :
Hence, with her fifter arts, fhall dancing claim
An equal right to univerfal fame

And Ifaac's Rigadoon fhall live as long,
As Raphael's painting, or as Virgil's fong,
Wife Nature, ever with a prudent hand,
Difpenfes various gifts to ev'ry land;
To ev'ry nation, frugally imparts....
A genius fit for fome peculiar arts;

To trade the Dutch incline, the Swiss to arms;
Mufick and verfe are foft Italia's charms; mo? it
Britannia juftly glories to have found

Lands unexplor'd, and fail'd the globe around;
But none will fare prefume to rival France,
Whether the forms, or executes the dance;
To her exalted genius 'tis we owe

The fprightly Rigadoon, and Louvre flow,
The Borée, and Courant unpractis'd long,
Th' immortal Minuet, and the fmooth Bretagne,
With all those dances of illuftrious fame,.
That from their native country take their name; su
With these let ev'ry ball be first begun,

Nor country-dance intrude till these are done.

t

Each, cautious bard, ere he attempts to fing, First gently flutt'ring, tries his tender wing; And if he finds that, with uncommon fire, The Mufes all his raptur'd foul infpire,

*Fuillet wrote the Art of Dancing, by characters, in French, fince tranf lated by Weaver.

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