GRACE and NATURE.
18th Century William Taylor EnglishGRACE and NATURE.
By the Same.
QUOTH John to his teacher, Good Sir, if you please, I wou'd beg your advice in a difficult case; 'Tis a weighty concern, that may hold one for life — 'Tis, in short, the old story of taking a wife. There's a pair of young damsels I'm proffer'd to marry, And whether to choose puts me in a quandary: They're alike in age, family, fortune, and feature, Only one has more grace, and the other good-nature.
As for that, says the teacher, good-nature and love, And sweetness of temper are gifts from above, And as coming from thence we shou'd give 'em their due; Grace is a superior blessing, 'tis true.
Ay, Sir, I remember an excellent sarment, Wherein all along you gave grace the preferment. I shall never forget it, as how you were telling, That heaven resided where grace had its dwelling.
Why John, quoth the teacher, that's true: but, alas, What heaven can do is quite out of the case; For by day and by night, with the woman you wed 'Tis you that must board, and 'tis you that must bed; And a good-natur'd girl may quickly grow gracious, But a sour-headed saint will be ever vexatious.