Quotes by Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu

“Oh! was there a man (but where shall I findGood sense and good nature so equally join'd?)Would value his pleasure, contribute to mine;Not meanly would boast, nor would lewdly design;Not over severe, yet not stupidly vain,For I would have the power, tho' not give the pain.No pedant, yet learned; no rake-helly gay,Or laughing, because he has nothing to say;To all my whole sex obliging and free,Yet never be fond of any but me;In public preserve the decorum that's just,And shew in his eyes he is true to his trust;Then rarely approach, and respectfully bow,But not fulsomely pert, nor yet foppishly low.But when the long hours of public are past,And we meet with champagne and a chicken at last,May ev'ry fond pleasure that moment endear;Be banish'd afar both discretion and fear!Forgetting or scorning the airs of the crowd,He may cease to be formal, and I to be proud.Till lost in the joy, we confess that we live,And he may be rude, and yet I may forgive.And that my delight may be solidly fix'd,Let the friend and the lover be handsomely mix'd;In whose tender bosom my soul may confide,Whose kindness can soothe me, whose counsel can guide.””