The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 17/On a Certain Lady at Court
ON A CERTAIN LADY AT COURT.
I KNOW the 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, aw'd by rumour;
Not grave thro' pride, or gay thro' 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:
When all the world conspires to praise her,
The woman's deaf, and does not hear.