| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909. | | | | Fair Hebe | | By John West, Earl De La Warr (1693–1766) |
| | | FAIR Hebe I left, with a cautious design | |
| To escape from her charms, and to drown them in wine, | |
| I tried it; but found, when I came to depart, | |
| The wine in my head, and still love in my heart. | |
| |
| I repaired to my Reason, intreated her aid; | 5 |
| Who paused on my case, and each circumstance weighed, | |
| Then gravely pronounced, in return to my prayer, | |
| ‘That Hebe was fairest of all that was fair!’ | |
| |
| ‘That’s a truth,’ replied I, ‘I’ve no need to be taught; | |
| I came for your counsel to find out a fault.’ | 10 |
| ‘If that’s all,’ quoth Reason, ‘return as you came; | |
| To find fault with Hebe, would forfeit my name.’ | |
| |
| What hopes then, alas! of relief from my pain; | |
| While, like lightning, she darts through each throbbing vein! | |
| My Senses surprised, in her favour took arms; | 15 |
| And Reason confirms me a slave to her charms. | | | | |
|
|
