The Virgin's A, B, C.
OR,
An ALPHABET of Vertuous Admonitions for a Chast,
Modest, and Well-govern'd Maid. Tune, The Young Man's A, B, C, etc.
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ALl you faithful Virgins
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to this Song give ear,
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And learn these Lessons
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which are taugh you here:
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An Alphabet of Vertues
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here are set,
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Which being learn'd
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will make a Maid compleat:
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BEar not a scornful Mind,
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although you are
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Beautious as Hellen,
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or like Venus fair;
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It ill becomes a Forehead
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smooth and white,
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To threaten Anger
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in a Lover's sight.
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CHuse thou a modest
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Carriage, and still be
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Courteous, and not too coy
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in Company:
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Their Nature's changing,
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and too much unkind,
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Who hath comely Face
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and scornful Mind.
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DIsdainful never seem,
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nor yet too much
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Dote on your Face's Beauty,
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slighting such
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As sue for Love, lest
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creeping Age come on,
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And then too late your
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Folly you bemoan.
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EXchange no Love,
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but always constant be,
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Esteem true Love
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a perfect Treasury:
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For where true Love
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and Beauty doth unite,
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It yields both Party's
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both there Hearts Delight.
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FEign no Affection,
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but where Vows are past,
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Fix there your Heart,
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there let your Love be plac'd;
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For if by feigned Wiles
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Love's Knot be ty'd,
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It breeds Dissention
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the Groom and Bride.
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GRow not too proud,
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though smiling Fortune do
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Great store of Wealth and
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her best Gifts bestow:
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For Pride, the Proverb says,
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must have a Fall;
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And so must Maidens,
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Widows, Wives and all.
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HAst not too much for
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Marriage, nor the thing
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Which doth not Pleasure,
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but doth Sorrow bring;
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For hasty Lovers
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often do destroy
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Their Sweets of Love,
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e're they their Hopes enjoys.
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IF you do chuse a Man
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whom you affect,
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Injure him not
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with any Disrespect,
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But wary be, and
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e're Love's Knot you tye,
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Prove first your own,
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and then his Constancy.
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KNowledge is gain'd by
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Experience, and by this
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Thou maist arrive
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unto the height of Bliss:
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First try, then trust;
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the which when you've prov'd,
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You both may love
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and be as well belov'd.
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LOok e're you leap,
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the Proverb still doth say,
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Let not smooth Tongues
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your Love to Lust betray;
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In fairest Grass
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a Snake is often found,
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And smoothest Tongues
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with Falshood much abound.
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MOan not too much,
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nor be thou always sad,
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Mirth sometimes may
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become a vertuous Maid;
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Yet use not too much
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Laughter, lest you be
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Slighted and scorn'd
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for your Immodesty.
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NOr use uncivil Talk,
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or Gesture light;
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Nor in unseemly
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Wantonness delight,
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But keep chaste Behaviour,
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that you may
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Have good Report
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in every kind of way.
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OFfend not with a foul
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and slanderous Tongue,
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Of them that do not
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think thee any Wrong;
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But speak thee well of all;
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and always do
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With others, as you would
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have them do with you.
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PAint not your Beauty
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when it is decay'd;
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Prize not that for a Jewel
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that will fade;
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And when you've done,
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the best will fade away,
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And through red Cheeks
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a wrinkled Brow display.
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QUench in thyself
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all Lusts inflaming Fires,
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Which may provoke thee
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to unchast Desires:
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For though awhile
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Pleasure please thy Mind,
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Yet Sorrow, Want and
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Beggery comes behind.
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REmember next how
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like a fading Flower
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The Earth's best Treasures
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vanish in an Hour:
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And now the best of things
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you can enjoy,
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The Sithe of Time shall cut,
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and Death destroy.
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SEek not for richer
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Gifts than he can give,
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So shalt thou in a state
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most surely live,
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For though fair Beauty
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deck thy outward Part,
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Yet inward Vertue
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best adorns thy Heart.
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TRy that rich Jem, which
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when thou hast attain'd,
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Thou hast a vertuous Maid's
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chief Beauty gain'd:
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And if fair Vertue
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do thy Courses steer,
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Like Joves fair Daughter
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thou shalt bright appear.
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VAin Beauty's but a Trifle,
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that awhile
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Dame Nature lends thee
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with a flattering Smile;
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Which Lovers gaze at,
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and with greedy hand
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Each one will crop its
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Blossom as it stands.
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WHilst in its full Ripeness
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it is grown,
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When 'tis decay'd their
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loves are with it gone;
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Let then this be thy care
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and chiefest strife,
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To live a vertuous Maid,
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and honest Wife.
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XAntippe like, the Wife
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of Socrates,
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Affect thou not
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thy Husband to displease,
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But with a quiet Tongue
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pursue his Will,
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And in Humility
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obey him still.
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YIeld not to others when
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you once are wed,
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The Pleasures of your
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lawful Husband's Bed;
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For if you guilty be
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of such a Fact,
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Thou shalt not 'scape
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unpunisht for that Act.
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ZEalous be thou, and in all
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Vertues prove
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Both constant, chaste, and
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loyal to your Love.
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And if these Lessons
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well you learn, for thee
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'Tis truly stil'd
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The Virgin's A, B, C.
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