OF TEMPER.
31
With foreign shrugs his country he regards,
And her lean tongue with foreign words he lards;
While Gallic graces, who correct his style,
Forbid his mirth to pass beyond a smile.
As the nice workman in the wooden trade
Hides his coarse ground, with finest woods o'erlaid,
Thus our young lord, with fashion's phrase refin'd,
Fineer'd the mean interior of his mind:
And hence, in courtesy's mild lustre seen,
His spirit shone as graceful as his mien,
The artless fair, on fashion's kind report,
Thought him the mirror of a matchless court:
Much she his dress, his language much observes,
Whole finer accents prove his feeling nerves,
Her fancy now the destin'd lover spies,
But her free heart abjures the quick surmise;
Yet as he spoke, at every flattering word
The vision's promise to her thought recurr'd.
Far more parental pride contrives to blind
The good Sir Gilbert's more experienc'd mind,
And her lean tongue with foreign words he lards;
While Gallic graces, who correct his style,
Forbid his mirth to pass beyond a smile.
As the nice workman in the wooden trade
Hides his coarse ground, with finest woods o'erlaid,
Thus our young lord, with fashion's phrase refin'd,
Fineer'd the mean interior of his mind:
And hence, in courtesy's mild lustre seen,
His spirit shone as graceful as his mien,
The artless fair, on fashion's kind report,
Thought him the mirror of a matchless court:
Much she his dress, his language much observes,
Whole finer accents prove his feeling nerves,
Her fancy now the destin'd lover spies,
But her free heart abjures the quick surmise;
Yet as he spoke, at every flattering word
The vision's promise to her thought recurr'd.
Far more parental pride contrives to blind
The good Sir Gilbert's more experienc'd mind,
