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Show The Preface. hope Time it felf fhall have as little power againft • Nee fovh its, ^ e m 5 as tne^e otncr ftornis have had, and ^ffwm'Zc'i t^en * Ovid's conclusion of his Metamor-d* x abou'n vet h-phofls may, with little alteration, more ftas>0,c' truth, and lefs vanity than by him to himfelf, be applyed to thefe once transformed, or rather deformed Poems, which, are here in fome meafure reftor'd to their native Shape and Beauty, and therefore certainly cannot fail of a welcome reception .now, fince they wanted it not before, when they appeared in that ftrange difguife. THE The Earl of Orrery to Mrs. Philips. I r Madam,' Hen 1 but knew you by report, I fear d the praifes of th* admiring Court Were but their Complements, but now I muji Confefs, what I thought civil isfcarce juji : For they imperfeSi Trophies to you raife, Ton deferve wonder, and they pay but praife ; A praije, which is as fbort of your great due, As all which yet have writ come fbort of you. Ton, to whom wonder s paid by double right, Both for your Verfes fmoothnefs and their height. In me it does not the leafl trouble breed. That your fair Sex does Ours, in Verfe, exceed, Since every Poet this great Truth does prove, Nothing fo much infpires a Mufe as Love j Thence has your Sex the befi poetick fires, For what's infpird muji yield to what infpires. And as Our Sex refigns to Yours the due, So all of your bright Sex muji yield to You. Experience fljews, that neyer Fountain fed A fir earn which could afcend above its Head ; For thofe whofe whfamd Helicon does give, To rife above its height dnrfl never ftrive, Their double Hill too, though 'tis often clear, Yet often on it clouds andflorms appear. Let none admire then that the ancient wit Shard in thofe Elements infufed it ', Nor that your Mufe than theirs afcends much higher, She (baring in no Element but fire. Pafl ages co^d not think thofe things you do, For their Hill was their Bafts and height too : So that 'tis Truth, not Complement, to tell$ Your lowefl height their higheft did excell; Your nobler thoughts warm'd by a heav'nly fire, To their bright Centre conftantly afpire ; a And w |