Mary Wortley Montagu

Quotes

• “Good madam, when ladies are willing,  A man must needs look like a fool;For me I would not give a shilling  For one who would love out of rule.You should leave us to guess by your blushing,  And not speak the matter so plain;’Tis our’s to write and be pushing,  ’Tis yours to affect disdain.That you’re in a terrible taking,  By all these sweet oglings I see,But the fruit that can fall without shaking,  Indeed is too mellow for me.”
• “Cease, fond shepherd! Cease desiring  What you never must enjoy;She derides your vain aspiring,  She, to all your sex is coy.Cunning Damon once pursued her,  Yet she never would incline;Strephon too, as vainly wooed her,  Though his flocks are more than thine.At Diana’s shrine, aloud,  By the zone around her waist,Thrice she bowed, and thrice she vowed,  Like the Goddess, to be chaste.”
• “Though I never get possession,  ’Tis a pleasure to adore;Hope, the wretch’s only blessing,  May, in time, procure me more.Constant courtship may obtain her,  Where both wealth and merit fail;And the lucky minute gain her—  Fate and fancy must prevail.At Diana’s shrine, aloud,  By the bow and by the quiver,Thrice she bowed, and thrice she vowed,  Once to love—and that forever.”
• “Civility costs nothing and buys everything.”

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Key facts

Born

Mary Pierrepont , ( 1689-05-15 ) 15 May 1689, Holme Pierrepont Hall , Nottinghamshire, England

Died

21 August 1762 (1762-08-21) (aged 73), London , England

Resting place

Grosvenor Chapel

Occupations

Aristocrat, writer, and poet

Known for

Introducing and advocating for smallpox inoculation to Britain

Spouse

Edward Wortley Montagu ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 15 October 1712</span>"}]]}'>1712 ; died 22 January 1761</span>"}]]}'>1761 ) ​

Children

Edward Wortley Montagu Mary Stuart, Countess of Bute

Parents

Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull (father) Mary Feilding (mother)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image

Mary Wortley Montagu by Charles Jervas, after 1716.jpg

via Wikidata · CC0