A Poem by Alexander Pope

I know the thing that’s most uncommon;
(Envy be silent and attend!)
I know a Reasonable Woman,
Handsome and witty, yet a Friend.

Not warp’d by Passion, aw’d by Rumour;
Not grave thro’ Pride, nor gay thro’ Folly,
An equal Mixture of good Humour
And sensible soft Melancholy.

“Has she no Faults then (Envy says), Sir?”
Yes, she has one, I must aver:
When all the World conspires to praise her,
The Woman’s deaf, and does not hear.

[Analysis of On a Certain Lady at Court]