Alexander Pope (1688–1744). Complete Poetical Works. 1903.
Early Poems: Imitations of English PoetsEarl of Dorset: Artemisia
T
Of councils, classics, fathers, wits,
Reads Malbranche, Boyle, and Locke,
Yet in some things methinks she fails:
’T were well if she would pare her nails,
And wear a cleaner smock.
Such nastiness and so much pride
Are oddly join’d by fate:
On her large squab you find her spread,
Like a fat corpse upon a bed,
That lies and stinks in state.
On any part except her face;
All white and black beside:
Dauntless her look, her gesture proud,
Her voice theatrically loud,
And masculine her stride.
A prating thing, a magpie hight,
Majestically stalk;
A stately worthless animal,
That plies the tongue, and wags the tail,
All flutter, pride, and talk.