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THE GENERAL ADMIRER.

FROM OVID.

"Non ego mendosos ausim defendere mores"
&c. &c.

I own that my habits admit no defence,
Nor to speak in their favour pretend;
I admit all your charges, acknowledge their sense,
But, alas! cannot cease to offend.
I possess no more power to subdue my desires
Than straws have the torrent above;
Nor is it one only this bosom that fires,
But, oh! there are hundreds I love.

If I see a fair girl with a down-gazing eye,
Her modesty's ruin to me.—
Is she free? I'm enraptured, and think, with a sigh,
How amusing and pleasant she'll be.—
Are her manners repulsive?—'tis merely pretence,
To dissemble a favouring will.—
Has she brains? I admire her.—If wanting in sense,
Her simplicity pleases me still.

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