He hit complexion, feature, air, He lost his friends, his practice fail'd: For no one sent the second pay. Two bustos, fraught with every grace, And spirited each awkward creature. All things were set; the hour was come, His pallet ready o'er his thumb: My Lord appear'd; and seated right, The Painter look'd, he sketch'd the piece, 66 Those eyes, my Lord, the spirit there But yet with patience you shall view Observe the work. My Lord replied, Dear sir, for me, 'tis far too young." "Oh! pardon me," the artist cried; My Lord examined it anew; Through all the town his art they praised; Would any man the picture own? THE LION AND THE CUB. How fond are men of rule and place, They love the cellar's vulgar joke, And lose their hours in ale and smoke; There o'er some petty club preside, So poor, so paltry is their pride! Nay, e'en with fools whole nights will sit, In hopes to be supreme in wit. If these can read, to these I write, A Lion-cub, of sordid mind, Fond of applause, he sought the feasts With asses all his time he spent, He caught their manners, looks, and airs; He seeks his royal sire's retreat; "How weak is pride!" returns the sire; "All fools are vain when fools admire! But know, what stupid asses prize, Lions and noble beasts despise." RESTRAIN your child; you'll soon believe And seem'd to peck to show the grain, She raked the chaff, she scratch'd the ground, And glean'd the spacious yard around: A giddy chick, to try her wings, On the well's narrow margin springs, And prone she drops. The mother's breast All day with sorrow was possest. A Cock she met; her son she knew, And in her heart affection grew. 66 My Son," says she, "I grant your years Have reach'd beyond a mother's cares. |