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THE LION, THE FOX, AND THE GEESE.

A LION, tired with state affairs,
Quite sick of pomp, and worn with cares,
Resolved (remote from noise and strife)
In peace to pass his latter life.

It was proclaim'd; the day was set:
Behold, the general council met.
The Fox was viceroy named. The crowd
To the new regent humbly bow'd.
Wolves, bears, and mighty tigers bend,
And strive who most shall condescend.
He straight assumes a solemn grace,
Collects his wisdom in his face:
The crowd admire his wit, his sense;

Each word hath weight and consequence.

The flatterer all his art displays:
He who hath power is sure of praise.
A Fox stepp'd forth before the rest,
And thus the servile throng addrest:

"How vast his talents, born to rule,
And train'd in Virtue's honest school!
What clemency his temper sways!
How uncorrupt are all his ways!
Beneath his conduct and command,
Rapine shall cease to waste the land.
His brain hath stratagem and art:
Prudence and mercy rule his heart.
What blessings must attend the nation
Under this good administration!"
He said. A Goose, who distant stood,
Harangued apart the cackling brood:
"Whene'er I hear a knave commend,
He bids me shun his worthy friend.
What praise, what mighty commendation!
But 'twas a fox who spoke th' oration.
Foxes this government may prize
As gentle, plentiful, and wise;
If they enjoy the sweets, 'tis plain
We Geese must feel a tyrant-reign.
What havoc now shall thin our race,

When every petty clerk in place,

To prove

his taste and seem polite,

Will feed on Geese both noon and night!"

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THE LADY AND THE WASP.

WHAT Whispers must the beauty bear!
What hourly nonsense haunts her ear!
Where'er her eyes dispense their charms,
Impertinence around her swarms.
Did not the tender nonsense strike,
Contempt and scorn might look dislike;
Forbidding airs might thin the place,
The slightest flap a fly can chase:

But who can drive the numerous breed?—

Chase one, another will succeed.

Who knows a fool must know his brother;

One fop will recommend another:

And with this plague she's rightly curst,

Because she listened to the first.

As Doris, at her toilet's duty,
Sat meditating on her beauty,

She now was pensive, now was gay,
And loll'd the sultry hours away.

As thus in indolence she lies,
A giddy wasp around her flies.
He now advances, now retires,
Now to her neck and cheek aspires.

Her fan in vain defends her charms;
Swift he returns, again alarms;

For by repulse he bolder grew,

Perch'd on her lip, and sipp'd the dew.

She frowns; she frets. "Good gods!" she cries, "Protect me from these teasing flies:

Of all the plagues that Heaven hath sent,

A

wasp

is most impertinent."

The hovering insect thus complain'd: "Am I then slighted, scorn'd, disdain'd? Can such offence your anger wake? 'Twas beauty caused the bold mistake. Those cherry lips that breathe perfume, That cheek so ripe with youthful bloom, Made me with strong desire pursue The fairest peach that ever grew." "Strike him not, Jenny," Doris cries, "Nor murder wasps like vulgar flies; For though he's free (to do him right), The creature's civil and polite."

In ecstasies away he posts; Where'er he came, the favour boasts;

Brags, how her sweetest tea he sips,
And shows the sugar on his lips.

The hint alarm'd the forward crew;
Sure of success, away they flew :
They share the dainties of the day,
Round her with airy music play;
And now they flutter, now they rest,
Now soar again, and skim her breast.
Nor were they banish'd till she found
That wasps have stings, and felt the wound.

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