INSCRIBED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE LADY FANNY FIELDING*.
N the smooth dance to move with graceful mien,
Easy with care, and fprightly tho' ferene,
To mark th' inftructions echoing ftrains convey,
And with just steps each tuneful note obey,
I teach; be prefent, all ye facred Choir,
Blow the foft flute, and ftrike the founding lyre:
When FIELDING bids, your kind affiftance bring,
And at her feet the lowly tribute fling;
* Lady Fanny Fielding was the youngest of the fix daughters of Bafil, Earl of Denbigh and Defmond, by his wife Hefter, daughter of Sir Bafil Firebrafs, Bart. She was one of the finest dancers of her time, but more diftinguished for her beauty and amiable manners. She married Daniel, the seventh Earl of Winchelsea, and third Earl of Nottingham, in the year 1729, and died in the year 1734.
Oh may her eyes (to her this verse is due)
What first themselves infpir'd, vouchfafe to view!
Hail lovelieft art! that canft all hearts infnare,
And make the fairest still appear more fair.
Beauty can little execution do,
Unless fhe borrows half her arms from
Few, like PYGMALION, doat on lifeless charms,
Or care to clasp a statue in their arms;
But breafts of flint muft melt with fierce defire,
When art and motion wake the sleeping fire,
A VENUS drawn by great Apelles' hand,
May for a while our wond'ring eyes command,
But ftill, tho' form'd with all the pow'rs of art,
The lifeless piece can never warm the heart;
So a fair nymph, perhaps, may please the eye,
Whilft all her beauteous limbs unactive lie,
But when her charms are in the dance difplay'd,
Then ev'ry heart adores the lovely maid:
This fets her beauty in the fairest light,
And shews each grace in full perfection bright;
Then, as the turns around, from ev'ry part,
Like porcupines, she fends a piercing dart;
In vain, alas! the fond spectator tries
To fhun the pleafing dangers of her eyes,
For, PARTHIAN like, fhe wounds as fure behind,
With flowing curls, and ivory neck reclin'd:
Whether her steps the Minuet's mazes trace,
Or the flow Louvre's more majestic pace,
Whether the Rigadoon employs her care,
Or fprightly Jig difplays the nimble fair,
At every step new beauties we explore,
And worship now, what we admir'd before:
So when ÆNEAS in the TYRIAN grove,
Fair VENUS met, the charming queen of Love,
The beauteous Goddess, whilst unmov'd she stood,
Seem'd fome fair nymph, the guardian of the wood;
But when she mov'd, at once her heav'nly mien,
And graceful step confefs bright Beauty's queen,
New glories o'er her form each moment rise,
And all the Goddess opens to his eyes.
Now hafte, my Muse, pursue thy deftin'd way,
What dreffes beft become the dancer, fay,
The rules of drefs forget not to impart,
A leffon previous to the dancing art.
The foldier's fcarlet glowing from afar,
Shews that his bloody occupation's war;
Whilst the lawn band, beneath a double chin,
As plainly speaks divinity within ;
The milk-maid fafe thro' driving rains and fnows,
Wrapt in her cloak, and prop'd on pattens goes;
While the foft Belle immur'd in velvet chair,
Needs but the filken fhoe, and trufts her bofom bare:
The woolly drab, and English broad-cloth warm,
Guard well the horseman from the beating storm,
But load the dancer with too great a weight,
And call from ev'ry pore the dewy sweat ;
Rather let him his active limbs display
In camblet thin, or gloffy paduafoy,
Let no unwieldy pride his shoulders press,
But airy, light, and easy be his dress;
Thin be his yielding sole, and low his heel,
So fhail he nimbly bound, and fafely wheel.
But let not precepts known my verse prolong,
Precepts which ufe will better teach than fong;
For why fhould I the gallant fpark command,
With clean white gloves to fit his ready hand?
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