Now Winter's chilling frosts are o'er,
And cold bleak winds assail no more;
The fleecy snow no more is seen,
But Spring comes drest in mantle green.
See how the blooming flow'rets rise,
While all around them wither'd lies,
The wreck of others fair as they--
So these in Autumn must decay.
A calm and serious thinking mind,
Would here a noble moral find:
In Nature's garden, richly stor'd
By, Nature's Universal LORD ,
Each shrub and plant do mortals teach,
And wither'd leaves and blossoms preach:
They much resemble Youth and Age--
One quits, while 'tother mounts life's stage!
Would my weak Sex, proclaim'd 'the Fair,'
One moment think, and think sincere,
That Beauty's of such transient power,
The fleeting fav'rite of an hour!
In youth and health its bloom is priz'd,
But (Virtue wanting) soon despis'd!
Then come, ye Females, let us join,
And our united force combine,
To drive away each trifling foe,
That courts us for our outward show.
We need no more but lay aside
Each vacant smile and gaudy pride;
And, while we aim at winning grace,
Let Prudence fill weak Folly's place:
Then Men of Virtue will approve,
And woo our minds with lasting love.