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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  440. On a certain Lady at Court

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Alexander Pope. 1688–1744

440. On a certain Lady at Court

I KNOW a thing that ‘s most uncommon; 
  (Envy, be silent and attend!) 
I know a reasonable woman, 
  Handsome and witty, yet a friend. 
 
Not warp’d by passion, awed by rumour;         5
  Not grave through pride, nor gay through folly; 
An equal mixture of good-humour 
  And sensible soft melancholy. 
 
‘Has she no faults then (Envy says), Sir?’ 
  Yes, she has one, I must aver:  10
When all the world conspires to praise her, 
  The woman’s deaf, and does not hear.