In Cupid's school whoe'er would take degree, Must learn his rudiments, by reading me. Seamen with sailing arts their vessels move; Art guides the chariot, art instructs to love. Of ships and chariots others know the rule; But I am master in Love's mighty school. Cupid indeed is obstinate and wild, A stubborn god, but yet the god's a child; Easy to govern in his tender age, Like fierce Achilles in his pupillage: That hero, born for conquest, trembling stood Before the Centaur, and received the rod. As Chiron mollified his cruel mind With art, and taught his warlike hands to wind The silver strings of his melodious lyre, So Love's fair goddess does my soul inspire, To teach her softer arts, to sooth the mind, And smooth the rugged breasts of human kind. Yet Cupid and Achilles, each with scorn And rage were filled, and both were goddess-born. The bull, reclaimed and yoked, the burden draws; The horse receives the bitt within his jaws; And stubborn Love shall bend beneath my sway, Though struggling oft he strives to disobey. He shakes his torch, he wounds me with his darts; But vain his force, and vainer are his arts. The more he burns my soul, or wounds my sight, The more he teaches to revenge the spite. I boast no aid the Delphian god affords, Nor auspice from the flight of chattering birds; Nor Clio, nor her sisters, have I seen, As Hesiod saw them on the shady green: Experience makes my work; a truth so tried You may believe, and Venus be my guide. Far hence, ye vestals, be, who bind your hair; And wives, who gowns below your ancles wear. I sing the brothels loose and unconfined, } The unpunishable pleasures of the kind; } Which all alike, for love, or money, find. } You, who in Cupid's rolls inscribe your name, First seek an object worthy of your flame; Then strive, with art, your lady's mind to gain; And, last, provide your love may long remain. On these three precepts all my works shall move; These are the rules and principles of love. Before your youth with marriage is opprest, Make choice of one who suits your humour best; And such a damsel drops not from the sky, She must be sought for with a curious eye. The wary angler, in the winding brook, Knows what the fish, and where to bait his hook. The fowler and the huntsman know by name The certain haunts and harbour of their game. So must the lover beat the likeliest grounds; The assembly where his quarry most abounds. Nor shall my novice wander far astray; These rules shall put him in the ready way. Thou shalt not sail around the continent, As far as Perseus, or as Paris went; For Rome alone affords thee such a store, As all the world can hardly show thee more: