Classic Poem

Ye wives, Sulpicia's pages scan,
Who wish to please one only man:
Ye husbands, read Sulpicia too,
Who wish one only bride to woo.
She tells not of Medea's rages;
Scylla and Byblis in her pages
Have no existence, in the least,
Nor yet Thyestes' direful feast;
She tells of love that's pure and good,
Where wit meets mirth in happy mood.

And honest critics well may say
None is more modest, none more gay.
E'en so Egeria, well I wot,
Would jest with Numa in her grot.
Had Sappho her as teacher seen,
More wise, more modest, she had been;
Though were she set by Sappho's side
Phaon would choose her for his bride;
Yet all in vain: she would not follow
Jupiter, Bacchus, or Apollo
To be their mate, or live one day
If her Calenus passed away.