THE

PREFACE.

T

1offer any

offer any reasons, why the following poems appear in public; for it is ten to one whether he gives the true; and if he does, it is much greater odds, whether the gentle reader is fo courteous as to believe him. He could tell the world, according to the laudable custom of Prefaces, that it was through the irresistible importunity of friends, or fome other excufe of ancient renown, that he ventured them to the prefs; but he thought it much better to leave every man to guefs for himself, and then he would be fure to satisfy himself: for, let what will be pretended, people are grown so very apt to fancy they are always in the right, that, unless it hit their humour, it is immediately condemned for a fham and hypocrify.

In short, that which wants an excufe for being in print, ought not to have been printed at all; but whether the enfuing poems deferve to ftand in that clafs, the world muft have leave to determine. What faults the true judgment of the Gentleman may find out, it is to be hoped his candour and good-humour will easily pardon; but those which the peevishness and ill-nature of the Critic may discover, must expect to be unmercifully ufed: Though, methinks, it is a very prepofterous pleasure, to scratch other perfons till the blood comes, and then laugh at and ridicule them.

Some perfons, perhaps, may wonder, how Things of this Nature dare come into the world without the protection of fome great name, as they call it, and a fulfome Epiftle Dedicatory to his Grace, or Right Honourable for, if a Poem struts out under my Lord's Patronage, the Author imagines it is no less than scandalum magnatum to diflike it; efpecially if he thinks fit to tell the world, that this fame Lord is a perfon of wonderful Wit and Understanding, a notable judge of Poetry, and a very confiderable poet himself. But if a Poem have no intrinfic excellencies, and real beauties, the greatest name in the world will never induce a man of sense to approve it; and if it has them, Tom Piper's is as good as my Lord Duke's; the only difference is, Tom claps half an ounce of fnuff into the poet's hand, and his Grace twenty guineas: for, indeed there lies the ftrength of a great name, and the greatest protection an Author can receive from it.

7

The

To please every one, would be a new thing; and to write fo as to please nobody, would be as new: for even Quarles and Withers have their admirers. Author is not fo fond of fame, to defire it from the injudicious Many; nor of fo mortified a temper, not to wish it from the difcerning Few. It is not the multitude of applaufes, but the good fenfe of the applauders, which eftablishes a valuable reputation; and if a Rymer or a Congreve fay it is well, he will not be at all folicitous how great the majority may be to the contrary.

LONDON, Anno 1699.

POEMS

POEM S

BY M R.

POMFRE T.

I

THE CHOICE.

F Heaven the grateful liberty would give,

That I might choose my method how to live;
And all those hours propitious Fate should lend,
In blissful eafe and fatisfaction spend;

Near fome fair town I 'd have a private feat,
Built uniform, not little, nor too great:
Better, if on a rifing ground it stood;

On this fide fields, on that a neighbouring wood.
It should within no other things contain,

But what are useful, neceffary, plain :
Methinks 'tis naufeous; and I'd ne'er endure
The needless pomp of gaudy furniture,
A little garden, grateful to the eye;
And a cool rivulet run murmuring by:
On whofe delicious banks a stately row
Of fhady limes, or fycamores,
fhould grow.
At th' end of which a silent study plac'd,
Should be with all the noblest authors grac'd:
Horace and Virgil, in whofe mighty lines
Immortal wit, and folid learning, shines ;

Sharp Juvenal, and amorous Ovid too,
Who all the turns of love's foft paffion knew:
He that with judgment reads his charming lines,
In which strong art with stronger nature joins,
Muft grant his fancy does the best excel;
His thoughts fo tender, and exprefs'd fo well:
With all thofe moderns, men of steady fenfe,
Efteem'd for learning, and for eloquence.
In fome of these, as fancy should advise,
I'd always take my morning exercise :
For fure no minutes bring us more content,
Than those in pleafing, useful studies spent.
I'd have a clear and competent estate,
That I might live genteelly, but not great :
As much as I could moderately spend ;
A little more, sometimes t'oblige a friend.
Nor fhould the fons of poverty repine

Too much at fortune, they should taste of mine;
And all that objects of true pity were,

Should be reliev'd with what my wants could fpare:
For that our Maker has too largely given,
Should be return'd in gratitude to Heaven.
A frugal plenty fhould my table fpread;
With healthy, not luxurious, dishes spread:
Enough to fatisfy, and fomething more,
To feed the ftranger, and the neighbouring poor.
Strong meat indulges vice, and pampering food
Creates difeafes, and inflames the blood.
But what 's fufficient to make nature strong,
And the bright lamp of life continue long,