Confider, man; weigh well thy frame;
The king, the beggar is the fame.

Duft form'd us all. Each breathes his day,
Then finks into his native clay.

Beneath a venerable yew,

That in the lonely church-yard grew,
Two Ravens fat. In folemn croak
Thus one his hungry friend bespoke.
Methinks I fcent fome rich repast ;
The favour ftrengthens with the blaft;
Snuff then, the promis'd feast inhale ;
I taste the carcafe in the gale.
Near yonder trees, the farmer's steed,
From toil and daily drudg'ry freed,
Hath groan'd his last. A dainty treat!
To birds of tafte delicious meat.

A Sexton, bufy at his trade,
To hear their chat fufpends his spade.
Death ftruck him with no farther thought,
Than merely as the fees he brought.
Was ever two fuch blund'ring fowls,
In brains and manners less than owls!
Blockheads, fays he, learn more respect.
Know ye on whom ye thus reflect?
In this fame grave (who does me right,
Muft own the work is ftrong and tight)
The 'Squire that yon' fair hall poffefs'd,
To-night fhall lay his bones at reft.

Whence

Whence could the gross mistake proceed?
The 'Squire was fomewhat fat indeed.
What then? The meaneft bird of prey
Such want of fenfe could ne'er betray:
For fure fome diff'rence must be found
(Suppose the smelling organ found)
In carcaffes (fay what we can)
Or where's the dignity of man?·
With due refpe&t to human race,
The Ravens undertook the cafe.
In fuch fimilitude of fcent,

Man ne'er could think reflexion meant.
As epicures extol a treat,

And seem their fav'ry words to eat,
They prais'd dead horfe, luxurious food,
The ven'fon of the prefcient brood.
The Sexton's indignation mov'd,
The mean comparison reprov'd;
Their undifcerning palate blam'd,
Which two-legg'd carrion thus defam'd.
Reproachful speech from either fide
The want of argument fupply'd:

They rail, revile: as often ends

The conteft of difputing friends.

Hold, fays the Fowl; fince human pride With confutation ne'er comply'd,

Let's ftate the cafe, and then refer

The knotty point: for tafte may err.

As

As thus he spoke, from out the mold An Earth-worm, huge of fize, unroll'd, His monftrous length. They ftrait agree

To chufe him as their referee.

So to th' experience of his jaws,
Each states the merits of the cause.
He paus'd, and with a folemn tone
Thus made his fage opinion known.
On carcaffes of ev'ry kind
This maw hath elegantly din'd;
Provok'd by luxury or need,

On beast, or fowl, or man, I feed:
Such fmall diftinction's in the favour,
By turns I chufe the fancy'd flavour.
Yet I must own (that human beast)
A glutton, is the rankeft feaft.
Man, ceafe this boaft; for human pride
Hath various tracts to range befide.
The prince who kept the world in awe,
The judge whofe dictate fix'd the law,
The rich, the poor, the great, the small,
Are levell'd. Death confounds 'em all.
Then think not that we reptiles share
Such cates, fuch elegance of fare:
The only true and real good
Of man was never vermin's food.
'Tis feated in th' immortal mind;
Virtue diftinguishes mankind.

And

And that (as yet ne'er harbour'd here)
Mounts with the foul we know not where.
So, good-man Sexton, fince the cafe
Appears with fuch a dubious face,

To neither I the caufe determine,
For diff'rent taftes please diff'rent vermin.

FINI S.