Catullus Imitated. Ep. . Poem by Nicholas Amhurst

Caelia to many does the Venus seem,
Of all the reigning Nymphs near Isis Stream,
The Toast of Coxcombs, and the Poet's Theme
To me (th' impartial Truth I will declare)
Her Eyes seem sprightly, her Complection fair,
Plump are her Limbs, majestick is her Air,
And yet no Venus is the buxom Dame;
Since nought Divine informs her bulky Frame,
No Charm to merit that illustrious Name.
But Laura is a Venus in the Whole,
Whose awful Title no Defects controul,
Unblemish'd in her Body and her Soul;
In her, a graceful Shape, a comely Mien,
And all the Charms of all the Sex are seen;
Still rising in her Bloom; but just Eighteen.