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AGAINST DRESS, TO A LADY by THOMAS WARTON THE ELDER

First Line: WHY WILL NEAERA FONDLY DECK
Last Line: UNTAUGHT AND ARTLESS CHARM THE VALE.
Subject(s): BEAUTY; CLOTHING & DRESS; NATURE; VANITY;

I.
WHY will Neæra fondly deck
With pearly Rows her polish'd Neck;
Why with the feathery Tippet hide,
Her swelling Bosom's spotless Pride?
With genuine Beauties, all your own,
You need not borrow @3Venus'@1 Zone.

II.
Whence all this fashionable Care,
To curl that lovely Length of Hair.
Which Nature meant shou'd flow profuse,
In Ringlets beautifully loose:
The studied Fopperies of Art
No real Elegance impart.

III.
Mark, fair One, in its native Bed,
How blooms the Cowslip's velvet Head;
What luscious Clusters load the Vines,
Whose Growth no skilful Hand confines;
How sweet the Lark and Nightingale
Untaught and artless charm the Vale.



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