Ye fair married dames, who so often deplore,
That a lover once blessed is a lover no more;
Attend to my counsel, nor blush to be taught,
That prudence must cherish what beauty has caught.

The bloom of your cheek, and the glance of your eye,
Your roses and lilies may make the men sigh;
But roses and lilies and sighs pass away,
And passion will die as your beauty decay.

Use the man that you wed, like your favourite guitar,
Though music's in both, they are both apt to jar;
How tuneful and soft from a delicate touch,
Not handled too roughly, nor played on too much.

The sparrow and linnet will feed from your hand,
Grow tame by your kindness and come at command;
Exert with your husband the same happy skill;
For hearts, like your birds, may be tamed to your will.

Be gay and good-humoured, complying and kind;
Turn the chief of your care, from your face to your mind;
'Tis there that a wife may her conquest improve,
And Hymen shall rivet the feters of love.

David Garrick (1717-1779)
Quoted from A Treasury of Love Poems (Chartwell Books)

The English poet , David Garret was commended as " an excellent husband, a kind master, and a matchless companion ".
Is Garret giving sound advice for wives to 'improve her conquest' of her husband's heart or merely penning his observations of his pleasureful, pleasing wife?

How witty it is to have likened the husband to 'a favourite guitar' , and how well said it was to remind dear wives to be ' gay and good-humoured, complying and kind. And not to allow the anxious cares to cloud our expressions but to merely drown them in the corner of our minds. At least momentarily...perhaps it's to tell us wives to stop that nagging attitude. Wives were expected to be temperate , demure and obedient in Garrick's times of old. While we , modern revolutionised ones can be drowning in our modern trappings most of the time. Where has the romance gone to? Has the respect (mutual) and submission to our lovers of ' till death doth us part' been lost to deceived demand of equality and pride?
A thought for all wives.