| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 12501900. |
| |
| William Congreve. 16701729 |
| |
| 432. A Hue and Cry after Fair Amoret |
| |
| FAIR Amoret is gone astray | |
| Pursue and seek her, ev'ry lover; | |
| I'll tell the signs by which you may | |
| The wand'ring Shepherdess discover. | |
| |
| Coquette and coy at once her air, | 5 |
| Both studied, tho' both seem neglected; | |
| Careless she is, with artful care, | |
| Affecting to seem unaffected. | |
| |
| With skill her eyes dart ev'ry glance, | |
| Yet change so soon you'd ne'er suspect them, | 10 |
| For she'd persuade they wound by chance, | |
| Tho' certain aim and art direct them. | |
| |
| She likes herself, yet others hates | |
| For that which in herself she prizes; | |
| And, while she laughs at them, forgets | 15 |
| She is the thing hat she despises. | |
|
|