The Lady who offers her Looking-Glass to Venus
July 5, 2023Cupid Mistaken
July 5, 2023Phyllis’s Age
How old may Phyllis be, you ask,
Whose beauty thus all hearts engages?
To answer is no easy task;
For she has really two ages.
Stiff in brocard, and pinch’d in stays,
Her patches, paint, and jewels on;
All day let envy view her face;
And Phyllis is but twenty-one.
Paint, patches, jewels laid aside,
At night astronomers agree,
The evening has the day belied;
And Phyllis is some forty-three.
Matthew Prior
Matthew Prior (1664-1721) was an English poet and diplomat known for his satirical and political works. He was also a close friend of the poet Alexander Pope.