Ere yet Josiah enter’d on his task,
The father met him - “Deign to wear a mask
A few dull days, Josiah - but a few -
It is our duty, and the sex’s due;
I wore it once, and every grateful wife
Repays it with obedience through her life:
Have no regard to Sybil’s dress, have none
To her pert language, to her flippant tone:
Henceforward thou shalt rule unquestion’d and alone;
And she thy pleasure in thy looks shall seek -