Nor swords at hand, nor hiiviug darts afar.
Are doom'd to avenge the tedious bloody war;
But poison, drawn through a ring^s hollow plat^
Mutt finitb him : a sacking infant's fate.
Go, climb the rugged. Alpt, ambitiout fool,
To please the boys, and be a theme at scbooL
One world soffic'd not Alexander's mmd ;
Coop'd up, he seem'd 'n earth and seas conflo'd**
And, struggling, stretch'd his restlese liralit tbout
The narrow gk£e, to find a patsage ont
Yet, enter'd in the brick-built town, he try^d
The tomb, and found the strait dimentions wkle:
" Death only this mytterious truth unfolds,
The mighty soul, how tmall a body holds."
Old Greece a tale of Athot would make oat,
Cut from the continent, and sail'd about ;
Seas hid with navies, chariots passing o'er
The channel, on a bridge from shore to shore i
Rivers, whose depth no sharp beholder sees.
Drunk, at an army's dinner, to the lees ;
With a long legend of romantic thingt.
Which in hit cupt the browsy poet kingt.
But how did he return, this haughty brave,
\^'ho whipt the winds, and made the sea h'ls tltvt r
(Though Neptune took unkindly to be bound ',
And Euruh never such bard usage found
In hit ^xdian prison under ground) ;
What go'l so mean, evii he who points the wty*
So merciless ^ tyrant to obey !
But bow returo'd he, let us ask again ?
In a poor skifi^ he pass'd the bloody main,
Chok'd with the slaughtered bodies of his tittii
For fame he pray'd, but let th' event declare
He bad no mighty pennyworth of his P^y****^
" Jove grant me length of .life, and ytui p^
store
Heap on my bende4 ba A, 1 ask no more" ,
Both Mck and healthfid, oU and youpgcon^^
In this one silly mitchicfout dtairti.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
. Juvenal &mnt ^
*49
*TU a loM, BMtjr, dMrtDtoaie hovpiul,
A ropy ofcdb of rheti— ; » Timg? nnigli,
Defbnii*^. uafe^tnr'a, and a •kto of buft
A scitcll-liril'ii ch^, that jMiigt below tlie j4# ;
6nch wrinklet, a« a ^\M band voatd dia# ,
For aa old graodam ape, wban, »iib a graat,
8b«ails at s^aat, and MrObs tiar l««tb«rn filc4
la jwutli, disiioatioBS fnliQita abawwl ;
Ko shape, pr Itataw, iiift alike are fMaKi $
The lair, the blacky the fceble, a«d the fttoAg i
But the ttflie Ibhlneii doee to a|$e beloBf^
The jilrianie piilsy, both in 1S»U aad toagva.
Tbe skull aiid forohead oae bald barren pMi ;
And gaml amanKiM to wawMe laeat in yahi»
Besides th* eteni^ drivel, that snppUee
Tbe (kopplDf beard, Iram doetsili, mouth and eyes*
His wife and children loath bin, and what's wone,
HioDself does bis ofknaim «ai*ie« oorie 1
Plattepers foraake bite too ; fbr who voald kill
fiimselt; tDhe i^member'd in a wttU
Bis taste notonly palPd to wine and flteat.
But to the leUsh of a nobler treat
Fhese senses k)8t, beboM a new d^fiMt,
The soul iKslodginf from another seat
What music, or enchanting Voice, can eh«ar
A stupid, odd, impenetrable ear I '
No mattsr in what place, or what degfce
Of the full theatre be sits to see ;
Comets and trampels cannot reaob his ear t
Cader an ador^ nese, he*s never near.
His boy must bawl to make him understand
Tbe boinr o' th' day, or such a loid^s at hand :
"Rie little Mood that creeps within his TetnSy
It but jlust wam'd in a hot fever's pauM.
In fine, he wears no Umb about him sound :
With sores aad sickn ess es beleag»er'4 round :
Ask me^heir names, I sooner coald relate
How many drudges on salt Hippla wait ;
What cr os u d s of patients the town-doctor kiHs,
Or bow, lastMl, he laki'd the weeUy biUs.
What provinces by Basilus were spoiled.
What herds of heirs by guardians are beguiFd:
What lands and lordships for their owner know
My quondam 4Niffber, butjiis wenhip now,
"Hiis dotard of his broken haqk complains.
One his legs fisil, and one bis shoulders' pains :
Another is of both bis eyes bereft ;
And envies who has one for aiming left
A fifth, with trembliiw Jlps txpwting stands,
iu in bis childhood, cramm'd by others' bands ;
2b«t iHw at sight of supper opened wide
His jaws before, and whetted grinders try'd |
Jow only yawns, and w^ts to be supply'd :
^be a young swallow, when with weary wings
Bq>eeted food tier fortipg mother brings.
His loss of memb^ is a heavy curse.
But all his faculties decajr'd are worse !
H« servants* names be has forgjptteo quite ;
'(novs not hisfriend who supped with him last night
Hot er^i the chUdren he begot and bred ;
Or his will knows them not : for, ib their stead,
'o form of 'law, a copimon hackney-jade,
*•• heir, for secret setrices, is nide :
^lewd and such a batterM brothel-whor^
^t die defies all comers, at hes door.
Wen, yetauppose his senses are bis own«
^^ivestobediiefmonmerfoTbisspn;
Before his fact bis wife and brother brnrnsj
He numbers aU his kindred ni their am.
VOL. xa.
These are the ines hs fmys idr Kviaf knf;
And dragging tedious age in his own wrpng i
Griefii ahvays yreen, a househoki still in is^ni.
Sad pomps: athrsslmUthfOngM with(Myhl»i«;
And liveffitf of Mack for length of yepurt,
Nflirt tp the ravan's a^e, ^ PyUan ki«g
Was longest li«*d dt nay two4(itg^d thing ; .
Blest, to defraud the giaye so long, to npupit '
His number*d yuavs, fnd on his riifbt band ooust;
"throt bun^rwd seasons, gusdtng pnuvt of wiov :
But, held a while; and bW hinself repioio
At fato^s qnequal hum ; ^ a^ tbt c\xm [draw:.
Which, merciless in length, the teldOMit ^iitff
When his lanave son npoo the fhnend pyrt
He saw extend^ aad his b««d on ftte ;
Hetum'd, abd wnqdng, askl'd his (rief^ w||a».
Had (cass^d his age to thi^ ntdiappv tioie ?
Thus pouni*d old Peleas for A«^ilkp flil»^
And thus Ulysses' fol^r did complain^
How fbrtunatn an end bad Priam maibB,
Amongst his ancestom a mighty shade,
-While Th>y yet stood : wheh Hector, waM)OMimo«
(Of rojral bastards, night his funeral graca fi
^midst the teaia of Tsq^an domes lnttm'4»
,And by his loyal daughters truly moumM !
•Had Heaven so blest him, be had dy'd bc#m
The fotal ie^ ef SparU Paris bore.
But mark what age produo'd ; he liy'd t» sqcT
His towB in dames, his foiling monarchy s
iln-fine, thefoeble sire, reduo^d by Dlta,
To change his sceptsB for a svKird, toolid^^
,His last etfbrt before Jove's akar tcitt ;
A soldier half, and half a sacrilloc :
Fallalike an or, that waits t|ie coming btor ^
jOkl and nnprofttable to the plough*
At least he dy'd a man ; hisq|ueea«nnEiaKd»
To howl, and in a baaong bod> liv'd*
I hasten to qur own ; nor w9l relate
<3reat Mithridates, and rich CrsBSus' foto »
Whom Solon wisely cennsei'd to attsnd
The name'Of 4iappj, tiU he knev his and.
That Marias wai an sole, ihat|ielfed^
iWas4a'en, in min'd Carthage hegg'd his IvMdy
All these were owing to a life .too ibng :
JPor whom had Rome beheU so bappy, young 1
tfligb in his chariot, and with lauiel orown'd,
iWben be Jiad led the Cimbcisn captives «puod
The Roman streets ; descending fvombis tfate,
jln that%lest iKMT he shopld have begg'd ii«lblA %
Then, then, he might have dy'd of all admir'd,
fAnd his triumphant soul with shoots m^r'd*
Campania, fortune's malice to prevent.
To Pomp^ an indul^^nt fovoor sent :
Aut public prayeis impoa'd on Heaven, to fit d
Their mocb-lov'd leader an unkind reprieifa.
The city's fote and his coospir'd 'to nave
The head, reserved for «mi P^^yptian slaves
Cetbegus, though a traitor to the state,
^nd tortur'd, 'scap'd this ignpmhitoos fofte i
And Sergius, who a*bad cause bravely try'd.
All of a pieoe, and undissinish'd, dy'd.
To Venus the fond mother makes a pctyaT,
That all her seas and daoghtafa BMy be aire
TVoe, for tbe boys a mumbling vow sheasMli |
•But Ibr the giris, the vaulted teinple.rattds ;
They must be ^ish'd.^MOei : tis alloar'tf
iDiana's beauty made Latona proud :
,And pleas^, to see the^wondertag ptO|^ pci/
To the a0w-riii«t siiler jl4hft 4^.
U
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5i4'
DRYDEN'S tRANSLATIOWS.
And yet Lumtta^ ftte noukl b»r tlwt ifov :
And fair Virgmw would her fote bMtov
Od Rutita ; aod change Her feuHkaa make
Ftor the fool rample of her caniel4)«ck.
But, for bit mother's boy the beau, what frifhts
His parent* have by day, wbat anxiooa nigfaCi !
Fonn, join*d with virtue, is a sifrht too rara i
Chaste is no epithet to suit with Cur.
Suppose the san>« traditionary strain
Of rigid manners, in the bonaa remaia ;
\ Inveterate truth, an eld plain Sabine's heart ;
Suppose that Nature, too, has. done her part:
lafuaM into his soul a sober grace,
Am^ blush'd a modest blood into his lace,
( For Nature is a betmr guardian fiv,
'nian saucy pedants, or dull tutors are:)
Yet still the youth must ne'er arrive at ainn ;
f So much ahnighty bribes, and presents, can ;)
£v*n wMi a parent, whore persuasions fail.
Money is impudent, and will prevail.
We never vead ef soch a tyrant king
M'ho gelt a boy deform'd, to hear hrat iiaf.
?*Mr Nero, in his more luxvrtous rage.
E'er made a mistrcas of an a^ page :
Sporus, hisspoaae, noretwikcd vas, nor lame.
With mountain*back, and belly, from the game
Cross-harrtd : but both his sexes well became.
Go, boast your Springal, by hb beauty eunC
To ills {-nor think 1 have declared the woitt;
Hit form procures him journey-work ( a sorile
Betwixt town-madams, and the merchant^ wife:
r^ucss, when he undertakes this public war.
What furious beasU o^«ded cuckolds are^
Adulterers are with dangers round beset ;
Bom nn der Mara, they cannot 'scape the net ;
And from revengeful husbands oft have try'd
Wor%* handling, than sevccest laws provide :
One stabs ; one slashes ; one, with cruel art.
Makes Cokm snfier for the peccant part f boy,
But year Eadjrmion, your smooth, smock'd-£ae'd
Uorival'd, shall a beanieons dame ei^y :
Not so, one more follactoos, rich, and old.
Outbids, and bnys her pleasiire for her gold ;
Noi^ he most moil and drudge, for one he loathe ;
She keeps him high, in equipage and clothes :
She pawns her jewels, and her rich attire.
And thinks the workman worthy of bis hire :
Jn all things else Immoral, stingy, mean ;
But, in her Insts, a conscionable quean.
She may be handsome, yet be chaste, yoti say ;
Qood observator, not so fast away :
Did it noC cost the modest youth his life,
Who shunned th' embraces of his Isther's wife?
And was not th* other striplm; fbrcM to ay,
Who coldly did his patron's queen dony ;
And pleaded laws of hospiUUty ?
The ladies charg'd them home, and tum'd the tale,
With shame they redden'd, and with spite grew
pale.
*Tis dangerous to deny the longing dame ;
She Josei pity, who has lost her shame.
Now Silitis wants thy counsel, gives advi<^e ;
W^ed Ctesar's wife, or die ; the choice i« nice.
Her comet-eyes jbe darU oo every grace ;
And takes a fatal liking to his face. k
Adom'd with bridal pomp she aits in state ;
llie public notarirj aod aruspex wait :
The genial bed is in the garden drest:
The fiertjon paid, and every rite expnst,
Whic^ in a Romaa.inanriage is prof< st. ..
TIs no stpTn weddin;, t^ r^eetidlr a«%
She scorns to marry, but in form of law :
In thb moot case, yodr judgaMut: to refiise*
Is present death, besides the night yon kise:
If yon consent, tis hardhr worth your paaa^
A day or t«o of aaxions life you gain:
Till lond reports through all the town have past,
Aod reach the prince: for enckolds bear the last
Indulge thy plMure, youth, and take thy saiag;
For not to uke is but the self-same thmg:
Inevitable death before thee Ues;
But looks mora kindly through a lady's eyes.
What then remains? Are we depriv'd of will*
Must we not wish, for fear of wishing ill ?
Keceive my counsel, and securely move;
Intrust thy fortune to the powers above.
Leave thean to manage for thee, and to grant
What their unerring wisdom sees thee want:
In goodness, as in greatness, they excel ;
Ah, that we loWd ourselves but half so well I
We, blindly by our headstitMig passions led,
Are hot for action, and deshv to wed $
Then aish for heirs: but to the gods alone
Our future offspring, and our wiyes, are kaown{
Th' audacious tftriunpet, and unfnmcious soa.
Yet not to rob the priests of pious gain.
That altars be not wholly built in vain ;
Foigive the gods the rest, and stand conGnM
,To health of body, and content of mind :
A sotil, that can securely death defy.
And count it Nature's privilege to die;
Serene and manly, hanlen'd to sustain
The load oC life, and exercis'd in pain :
Guiltless of hate, and proof against deshe ;
That all things weighs, and uuthinsr can admire i
That dares prefer the toils of Hercules
To dalUanoe, banquet, and ignoble <
The path to peace is virtue : what 1 show,
Thyself may freely on thyself bestow :
Fortune was never worship'd by the wise |
But, set sJoft by fools, usurps the skies.
Vni SXXTBEMTB SATItB OF
JWEyjL
TBB AaoiTMXirr.
â– B poet, in this satire, proves, that the conditisa
of a soldier is much better than that of a country-
man : flnt, because a countryman, however
affronted, provoked, and struck himself, dans
not strike a soldier ; who is only to be jadgvd
by a court-martial, and by the law of Camilliv,
whioh obligrs him not to quarrel without the
trenches ; be is also assur^ to have a speedy
hearing, aod quick dispatch : whereas, the tovai-
man or peasant is delayed in his suit by frivoloas
pretences, and not sure of justice when hs bit
heard in the court: the soldier is also privi-
leged to make a will, and to give away his
estate, which he got in war, to whom he pl«ast!S^
without consideration of parentage, or relatioai;
which is denied to all other Romans. This satirs
was wrrtten by Juvinal, when he wasacoinj
mander in Egypt : it is certainly his, though I
think it not linishcd. And if it be well obse|tcd|
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^PERSIUS. SATIRE I. '
515
ypQ w31 find be intended tn invective against a
standing army.
AVhat vast prerogatives, my Oallus, are
Accruing to the mighty man of war !
For, if into a lucky camp I li^ht,
Though raw in arms, and yet afraid to fight.
Befriend me, my good stars, and all goes righti
One happy hour is to a soldier l>ctter,
Than mother Juno^s recommending letter,
Or Venus, when to Mars she would p<efpr
My suit, and own the kindness done to her.
See what our common privileges are:
As, first, no saucy citizen should dare
To strike a soldier, nor, when struck, resent
The wrong, for fear of farther punishment :
N6t though his teeth are beaten out. his eyes
Hang by a string, in bumps his forehead 'rise,
^hall he presume to mention his disgrace.
Or beg ameuds for his demoUsh'd face«
A booted j. dge sl)all sit to try his cause.
Not by the statute, but by martial laws ;
Which old Camillas onlcr'd, to confme
The brawls of soldiers to the trench and Hne :
A wise provision ; and from thence 'tis clear.
That officers a soldier's cause should bear :
And, taking cognizance of wronrt receiv'd^
An honest man may hope to be reliev'd.
80 far 'tis well : but with a general cry.
The regiment will rise in mutiny.
The freedom of tht;ir fellow-rogue demand,
And, if refused, will threaten to disband.
Withdraw thy action, and depart in peace |
The remedy is worse than the disease :
This cause is worthy him, wha in the hall
Would for his fee, and for his client, bawl :
But wouldst thou,, frieod, who- hast two legs aloAe,
O^liicfi; Heaven be prais*d, thou yetmay'st call
thy own)
Wotild^st thou, to run the gauntlet, these expose
To a whole company of hob-naird shoes }
Sure the good-breeding of wise citizens
Should teach them more good-nature to their shins.
Besides, whom can'st thou think so much thy
frl^.
Who dares appear thy business to defend ?
Dry up thy tears, and pocket up th' abuse^
Kor put thy friend to make a bad excuse.
The judge cries out, ** Your eviden e produce.**
Will he,< who saw the 8oldier*8 mutton- fist.
And saw thee maul'd, appear within the list.
To witi^ew truth ? When I see one so brave,
Tbe dead, think I, are risen from the grave ;
And with their lung spade beards, and matted hair.
Our hooest ancestors are come to take the air.
Against a clown, with more security,
A witness may be bronsht to swear a lie,
Than, though bis evidence be full and fair,
To vouch a truth against a man of war.
More benefits remain, ami claim'd as rights,
Which are a standing army's perquisites.
If any rogue vexatious suits advance
Against me for my known inheritance.
Enter by violence my fruitful grounds.
Or take the sacred land-mark from my bounds,
Thot^ bounds, which with possession and with
prayer.
And oOer'd cakes, have been my annual carc#^
Or if my debtors do not keep their drfy, '
Deny their bands, and then refuse to pay 4
I must, with patience, all the terms attend,
Among the common causes that depend.
Till mine is calPd ; and that long look'd-for day
Is still encumbered with some new delay :
Perhaps the cloth of state is only spread,
• Some of the quorum may be sick a-bed ;
That judge 18 hot, and doflus his gown, while this *
O'er night was bowsy, and goes out to piss :
So matiy rubs appear, the time is gone
For hearing, and the tedious suit goes on :
But bufi" and belt-men never know these cares.
No time, nor trick of law their action bars :
Their cause they to an easier issue put : •
They will be heard, or they lug out, and cut.
Another branch of their revenue still
Remains, be\'ond their boundless right to kill.
Their father yet ali^-e, impower»d to take a will.
For, what their prowess gain'd the law declaref
Is to themselves alone, and to their heirs :
No share of that goes back to the begetter.
But if the son fights well, and pliraders bettor,
Uk^ stout Cortnus, his old shaking sire
Does a remembrance in his will desire :
Inquisitive of fights, and lonpa in vain
To find him in the number of the slain r
But still he lives, and, rising by the war,
Eii)oy« hb gains, and has enough to spare !
I or »tij» a noble general's prudent part
To cherish valour, and reward desert :
Let him be danb'd with Ikce, live high, an^wbort}
Sometimes be lousy, but be never poor.
TRANSUTTOSS FROM PERSIUS.
THE FUST 8ATIRI OF
PERSJUS.
ARQI7M]BNT OP. TUE PIOLOCOE TO TBB PlltffT
SATIRE.
The design of the author was to conceal his namt
and quality. He lived in the dangerous times
of the tyrant Nero ; and aims particularly at
him in most of his satires. For which reason,
thotigh he was a Romrtu knight, and of a plenti-
ful fortune, he would appear in this prolorua.
but a beggeriy poet, who writes for bread.
Afler this; he breaks into the business of the first
satire j which is chiefly to decry the poetry then
in fashion, and the impudence of those who.
were endeavouring to pass their stuff upon tht
world.
nOLOCOB TO THE FlRtT SATIRE.
I NRVER did on cleft Parnassus dream.
Nor taste the sacred Heliconian stream ;
Nor can remember when my brain ' inspired.
Was, by the Muses, into madness fir'd.
My share in pale P^rene I resijcn ;
And claim no part m all the miebty Nine.
Statues, with Winding: ivy crown'd, belong
To nobler pveti, H^ a nobler son^ ;
Digitized by VjOOQIC
DRTDEN15 TRAKSLAHONS.
516
Heedless of vtfite, aftd liofieieii df the crtarn.
Scarce half a irit, and more than half a clown,
Before the shrine I lay my rugfed nnibers dewn.
Who taught the parrot haman notes to try
Or with a voice endued the chattering pye ?
'Twas witty want, fierce hunger to appease i
Want taught their masters, and their masters these.
]>t gain, that gilded bait, be hung en high.
The hungry witlings have it in their eye :
Pyes, crows, and daws, poetic presents bring :
You say they squeak ; but they will swear they sing.
arcvmbNt op the first satire.
I NEED not repeat, that the chief aim of the author
is against bad poets in this satire. But I must
add, that he includes also bad orators, who
began at that time (as Petronius in the begrinning
of bis book tells us) to enervate manly eloquence,
by tropes and figures, ill placed and worse
applied. Amongst the poets, Persius covertly
strikes at Nero ; some of whose verses he recites
with scorn and indignation. He also takes notice
of the noblemen and their abominable poetry,
who, in the luxury of their fortunes, set up for
wits and judges. The satire is in dialogue,
betwixt the author and his friend or monitor ;
who dissuades him from this dangerous attempt
of exposing great men. But Persius, who is of
a free spirit, and has not forgotten that Rome
was once, a commonwealth, breaks through all
those difficulties, and boldly arraigns the false
judgment of the age in which he lives. The
reader may observe that our poet was a stoic
philosopher ; and that all bis moral sentences,
both here and in all the rest of his satires, are
dirawn from the dogmas of that sect
THE FIRST SATIRE.
W ifttAt^ociTB Btrmnr.v the j»ofET axd his
FRIEND OR MONITOR.
Ho wf anxious are our cares, and yet how vain
The bent of our desires !
FRIEND. Thy spleen contam :
Tor none will read thy satires.
PERSIUS. This to me ?
FRIEND. None ; or what's next to none, but two
or three.
*l'is hard, I grant
PERSIUS. 'Tis nothing ; I can bear
That paltry scribblers have the public, ear :
That this vast universal fool, the town,
Should cry up Labeo's stuff, an^ cry me down.
They damn themselves ; nor will my Muse descend
To clap with such, who fools and knaves
commend :
Their smiles and censures are to me the same :
I care not what they praise, or what they blame.
In full assemblies let the crow prevail :
I weigh no merit by the common scale.
The conscience is the test of every mind ;
" Seek not thyself, without thyself, to find."
But %1ier6>8 that BMMn f'-^aiAHrfitt twtnU iif,
But fear ; let fear, for once, to trath gi'fe wiy.
Truth lends the Stoic courage : when I look
On human acts, and fead lh'Nafure*s book,
From the first pastimes of ou^* infant-a^,
To elder etres, and man's aevetcr page ;
When stem as tOMrSf' and as mietesliard,
We lash the pupil, anA ddfratid the Ivard :
Then, then I say,— Or wouM sajr, if I tiurit—
But thus |>rt>v<4cM, I must speak out, or bant.
FRIEND. Once more fbrbear.
PERSIUS. 1 fcannot m1« my s(deai:
My scorn labels, and tickfes me within.
First, to begin at home : our anthers write
In lonely rodttis, secur'd from public siglit ;
Whether in |*ote, or verse, 'tis all thfe sane :
The ptose is fustian, and the numbers lafine.
All noise, and empty pomp, a storm of wordi,
Labouring with sound, that little sense affords.
They comb, and then they ordH- every hair :
A gown, or white, or scoured to whiteness^ wesr:
A birth -day jewel bobbing at their ear.
Next, gargle well their tliroats, and thus ^n^eptrM,
They moufat, a God*s name, to be seen and beards
From their high acaifold, with a trumpet cheek,
And ogling all their audience ere they speak.
The nauseous nobles, ev*n the chief of Rome,
With gaping mouths to these rehearsals conre.
And pant vith pHeasure, when some losty fine
The marrow pierees, and nfrftdes the chine.
At open fulsome bawdry thcT.tejoice,
And slim V jest appland with broken voice.
l^ase prostitute, thus dost thou gam thy bread ?
Thus dost thou feed their tsars, and thus art fed?
At his o*li filthy stuil'he grins and Inrays :
And gives the sign where he expects their prabe.
Why have I leam'd say»st thou, if, ttns
oowfin»d,
I choke the noble Tigour of my In hid ?
Know, »iy wild fig-tree, which hi rocks is bred.
Will split the quarry, and shoot out the head. .
Fine fruits of learning ! old anftHtious fool,
Dar'st thou apply that adage of the school :
As if 'tis nothing worth that lies conceal'd.
And *« science is not science till teveal'd f •*
Oh, but 'tis brave to be admh'd, to Sec
The crowd, with pointing fingers, cry. That's he:
That's he whose wondrous poem is be<*ome
A lecture for the "noble youth of Rome' !
Who, by their fkthers, is at (basts renownM ;
And often quoted when the bowls go rornid.
Full gorg'd and flush'd, they wantonly Ttiheane;
And add to wine the luxury t)f verse.
One, clad in purple, not to hwe his time.
Eats, and recites some lamentable thyme :
Some senseless Phillis, In a br6ken note.
Snuffling at nose, and croaking in his throat:
Then graciously the mellow audience nod :
Is not th' immortal author made a god ?
Are not his manes blest, stich praise to hate ?
Lies not the turf more lightly on his grave ?
And roses (while his loud applause they ting)
Stand ready from his sepulchre to spring?
All these, you cry, but light objecttons ate;
Mere malice, and you drive the jest too fiir.
For does thnre breathe a man, who can rqeot
A general lame, and his own Imes neglect ?
In cedar tablets worthy to appear,
That need not fish, or frankincense, to fear?