And this perhaps, who, cens'ring the defign,
Low lays the house which that of cards doth build,
Shall Dennis be! if rigid fates incline,
And many an Epic to his rage fhall yield;
And many a poet quit th' Aonian field;
And, four'd by age, profound he shall appear,
As he who now with 'fdainful fury thrill'd
Surveys mine work; and levels many a sneer,
And furls his wrinkly front, and cries "What stuff is
But now Dan Phoebus gains the middle skie,
And Liberty unbars their prison-door;
And like a rushing torrent out they fly,
And now the graffy cirque han cover'd o'er
With boist'rous revel-rout and wild uproar ;
A thousand ways in wanton rings they run,
Heav'n fhield their short-liv'd paftimes, I implore!
For well may Freedom, erst so dearly won,
Appear to British elf more gladfome than the fun.
XXXI.
Enjoy, poor imps! enjoy your sportive trade;
And chase gay flies, and cull the fairest flow'rs
For when my bones in grafs-green fods are laid;
For never may ye tafte more careless hours
In knightly caftles, or in ladies bow'rs.
O vain to feek delight in earthly thing!
But most in courts where proud Ambition tow❜rs; Deluded wight! who weens fair peace can spring Beneath the pompous dome of kefar or of king. XXXII.
See in each sprite fome various bent appear!
These rudely carol most incondite lay;
Those faunt'ring on the green, with jocund leer.
Salute the ftranger paffing on his way;
Some building fragile tenements of clay;
Some to the standing lake their courses bend, With pebbles smooth at duck and drake to play; Thilk to the huxter's fav'ry cottage tend,
In pastry kings and queens th' allotted mite to spend.
Here, as each season yields a different store,
Each feason's stores in order ranged been;
Apples with cabbage-net y-cover'd o'er,
Galling full fore th' unmoney'd wight, are seen ;
And goofe-b'rie clad in liv'ry red or green;
And here of lovely dye, the Cathʼrine pear,
Fine pear! as lovely for thy juice, I ween:
O may no wight e'er penny-lefs come there,
Left fmit with ardent love he pine with hopeless care!
XXXIV. See!
See! cherries here, ere cherries yet abound,
With thread fo white in tempting pofies ty'd,
Scatt'ring like blooming maid their glances round,
With pamper'd look draw little eyes afide;
And must be bought though penury betide.
The plumb all azure and the nut all brown,
And here, each season, do those cakes abide,
Whose honour'd names th' inventive city own,
Rend'ring thro' Britain's ifle Salopia's praises known ".
XXXV.
Admir'd Salopia! that with venial pride
Eyes her bright form in Severn's ambient wave,
Fam'd for her loyal cares in perils tried,
Her daughters lovely, and her striplings brave;
Ah! 'midst the reft, may flowers adorn his grave,
Whose art did first these dulcet cates display!
A motive fair to Learning's imps he gave,
Who cheerlefs o'er her darkling region stray;
'Till reason's morn arife, and light them on their way.
By the Reverend Mr. BRAMSTON.
F to an human face Sir James fhould draw
A horfe's mane, and feathers of maccaw,
A lady's bofom, and a tail of cod,
Who could help laughing at a fight so odd?
Just fuch a monster, Sirs, pray think before ye,
When you behold one man both Whig and Tory.
Not more extravagant are drunkards dreams,
Than Low-church politics with High-church schemes.
Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
Jungere fi velit, & varias inducere plumas
Undique collatis membris; ut turpiter atrum
Definat in pifcem mulier formofa fuperne :
Spectatum admiffi, rifum teneatis, amici ?
Credite, Pifones, ifti tabulæ fore librum
Perfimilem, cujus, velut ægri fomnia, vanæ
Fingentur fpecies.Pictoribus atque Poetis
Painters, you'll fay, may their own fancies use,
And free-born Britons may their party chufe:
That's true, I own: but can one piece be drawn
For dove and dragon, elephant and fawn?
" Speakers profefs'd, who gravity pretend,
With motly fentiments their speeches blend;
Begin like patriots, and like courtiers end.
Some love to roar, the constitution's broke,
And others on the nation's debts to joke;
Some rail, (they hate a commonwealth fo much,).
Whate'er the subject be, against the Dutch;
While others, with more fashionable fury,
Begin with turnpikes, and conclude with Fleury.
Some, when th' affair was Blenheim's glorious battle,
Declaim'd against importing Irish cattle:
Quidlibet audendi femper fuit æqua poteftas ;
Scimus, & hanc veniam petimufque damufque viciffim ;
Sed non ut placidis coëant immitia, non ut
Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
Incoeptis gravibus plerumque & magna profeffis
Purpureus, late qui fplendeat, únùs & alter
Affuitur pannus; cum lucus, & ara Dianæ,
Aut properantis aquæ per amonos ambitus agros,
Aut flumen Rhenum, aut pluvius defcribitur arcus.
Sed nunc non erat his locus: & fortaffe cupreffum
Scis fimulare: quid hoc, fi fractis enatat exfpes
Navibus, ære dato qui pingitur? amphora cœpit
Inftitui; currente rota cur urceus exit ?
Denique fit quidvis, fimplex duntaxat & unum.
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