The Ladies Delight | Page 2

fame Store;?And sent o'er hither, it is such?As does exceed our own by much,?And gets the Owner many a Farthing,?For Ladies_ love it in their _Garden.
That it's a Tree_ right _sensitive,?Denies no honest Man alive:?Tho' as one shrinks and will not stand,?This rises_ at a _Lady's Hand,?And grows more strong the more 'tis strok'd,?As others fall_ when they are _pok'd.
When nipping Cold bites off our Nose,?And hoary Frosts the Morn disclose,?In Hot-beds only then 'twill live,?And only when-well warm'd will thrive;?But when warm Summer does appear,?'Twill stand_ all _brunts in open Air;?Tho' oft they're overcome with Heat,?And sink with Nurture too replete;?Then Birchen Twigs, if right apply'd?To Back, Fore-part, or either Side----?Support a while, and keep it up,?Tho' soon again the Plant will droop.
Motteux had one very untow'rd,?And thought to mend it with a Cord,?But kill'd the Tree_, yet gain'd his _End,?Which makes th' Experiment condemn'd.
Others have thought to mend the Root,?By taking from the Tree its Fruit;?But in the Nutmegs lies the Breed,?And when they're gone we lose the Seed;?Tho' Virtuosi still have don't,?And always found it yield Accompt;?For Hey----gg----r_ then buys the _Wood,?And of it makes us Whistles good,?Which yearly from Italia sent,?Here answers his and our Intent.
Others too curious will innoc?Ulate_ their Plants on _Medlars Stock,?(i.e. as Tongues in Vulgar pass,?They graft it on an Open-arse;)?But Gardeners, Virtuosi, all,?Say this is most unnatural.
That Soil is certainly the best,?Whence first it sprang, and first increast,?In Vallies hollow, soft, and warm,?With Hills to ward off every Storm,?Where Water salt runs trickling down,?And Tendrils lie o'er all the Ground,?Such as the Tree itself shoots forth,?And better if't be tow'rds the North;?When such a Piece of Ground you see,?If in the midst a Pit there be,?There plant it deep unto the Root,?And never fear----you'll soon have Fruit.
Tho' let young Botanists beware?Of Insects that oft' harbour there,?Which 'mongst the tender Fibres breed,?And if not kill'd, eat up the Seed:?Good Humphrey Bowen gives another,?(As each Man should assist his Brother)?That is, to take especial Care?Not to set Vulvaria near;?Of them two Sorts are frequent found,?One helps, and to'ther spoils the Ground;?And many a Plant thriving and tall,?Destroy'd by them, has got a Fall.
But Misan's taken this just napping,?And against all Things that can happen?Both to the Shrub and Tree, has told some?How to make the deadliest Wholesome;?These venomous Vulvaria grow?At Vaux-Hall_ and _St. James's too;?Nay, and about the Tree so leap,?That very few good Plants can 'scape.
The Names and Virtues
Old Mother D'Acier, in her Notes?On Homer_, some hard _Greek Word quotes,?Calls it Nep, nep,--I know not what,?And says it is the very Plant that?The tawny Queen to Helen sent,?To cure her Griefs at all Event.
Great Milton's Murd'rer says it is?The fam'd Machaera Herculis,?And proves from some old Grecian Poet,?So plain that all Men sure must know it,?That of this Tree the Club was made,?With which he overcame ('tis said)?Thespius' Daughters, all grown wild,?And fifty Mad-Women_ made _mild;?Which very Club--(it makes one Laugh)?Omphale turn'd into a Distaff.?Nay, the Hesperian Tree was this,?As shew the Poma Veneris;?These Apples doubtless were the Fruit?That 'twixt the Queens rais'd such Dispute,?To make 'em all stark-naked stand,?While Paris held it in his Hand,?And chuck'd_ it into _Venus' Mouth,?'Cause she with Beauty fir'd the Youth.
The Virtues are of such great Note,?That twenty Volumes might be wrote;?The Juice alone Green-Sickness cures,?And purges thro' all corporal Pores;?If any Maid be sick, or faint?Of Love, or Father's close Constraint,?One Spoonfull of this Cordial Balm?Soon stops each Grief, and every Qualm;?'Tis true, they sometimes Tumours cause,?And in the Belly make strange Flaws,?But a few Moons will make 'em sound,?And safely fetch the Swelling down.
Not Saffron chears the Heart like this,?Nor can Champaign give such a Bliss:?When Wife and Husband do fall out,?And both remain in sullen pout,?This brings them to themselves again,?And fast unites the broken Chain;?Makes Feuds and Discords straightway cease?And gives at least a Night of Peace.
This Rarity may now be seen?In Lambeth, at a Garden Green,?Bowen his Name, who in high Tone,?Calls it the Tree of Silver Spoon,?Which all the Maids of curious Eyes?May there behold of largest Size.
THE Natural HISTORY OF THE TREE of LIFE.
The_ DESCRIPTION _and PLACE.
The Tree of Life_ is a _succulent Plant, consisting of one only strait stem, on the top of which is a Pistillum_ or _Apex, at some times Glandiform_ and resembling a _May-Cherry, tho' at others, more like the Nut_ of the _Avellana_ or _Filbeard-Tree.
Its fruits, contrary to most others, grow near the Root; they are usually no more than two in number, their bigness somewhat exceeding that of an ordinary Nutmeg_ both contained in one strong _Siliqua, or purse; which, together with the whole root of the plant, is commonly thick set with numerous Fibrilla_ or _capillary Tendrils.
The tree is of slow growth, and requires time to bring it to perfection, rarely seeding