The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 7/On Mrs. Biddy Floyd

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The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7
(c. 1706)
by Jonathan Swift, edited by Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, John Boyle, Patrick Delany, John Hawkesworth, Deane Swift, William Bowyer, John Birch, and George Faulkner

On Mrs. Biddy Floyd

Apollo Outwitted

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1560364The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7
— On Mrs. Biddy Floydc. 1706Jonathan Swift

On Mrs. BIDDY FLOYD;

OR, THE RECEIPT TO FORM A BEAUTY^[1].

WHEN Cupid did his grandsire Jove intreat
To form some Beauty by a new receipt,
Jove sent, and found, far in a country scene,
Truth, innocence, good nature, look serene:
From which ingredients first the dextrous boy
Pick'd the demure, the awkward, and the coy.
The Graces, from the court did next provide
Breeding, and wit, and air, and decent pride:
These Venus cleans from every spurious grain
Of nice, coquet, affected, pert, and vain.
Jove mix'd up all, and the best clay employed;
Then call'd the happy composition Floyd.

↑ An elegant Latin version of this "Receipt" is printed in the sixth volume of Dryden's Miscellanies.

[1] An elegant Latin version of this "Receipt" is printed in the sixth volume of Dryden's Miscellanies.

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