But jokes, we know, if they too far go,
Must have an end--and so, one day,
Upon that coast there was a cargo
Of looking-glasses cast away.
'Twas said, some Radicals, somewhere,
Had laid their wicked heads together,
And forced that ship to founder there,--
While some believe it was the weather.
However this might be, the freight
Was landed without fees or duties;
And from that hour historians date
The downfall of the Race of Beauties.
The looking-glasses got about,
And grew so common thro' the land,
That scarce a tinker could walk out,
Without a mirror in his hand.
Comparing faces, morning, noon,
And night, their constant occupation--
By dint of looking-glasses, soon,
They grew a most reflecting nation.
In vain the Court, aware of errors
In all the old, establisht mazards,
Prohibited the use of mirrors
And tried to break them at all hazards:--
In vain--their laws might just as well
Have been waste paper on the shelves;
That fatal freight had broke the spell;
People had lookt--and knew themselves.
If chance a Duke, of birth sublime,
Presumed upon his ancient face,
(Some calf-head, ugly from all time,)
They popt a mirror to his Grace;--
Just hinting, by that gentle sign,
How little Nature holds it true,
That what is called an ancient line,
Must be the line of Beauty too.
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