Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

Unfatisfy'd with margins closely writ,
Foams o'er the covers, and not finish'd yet.
No man can take a more familiar note

Of his own home, than I of Vulcan's grot,
Or Mars his grove, or hollow winds that blow
From Ætna's top, or tortur'd ghofts below.
I know by rote the fam'd exploits of Greece;
The Centaurs fury, and the golden fleece ;
Through the thick shades th' eternal fcribbler bauls,
And fhades the ftatues on their pedeftals.

The best and worst on the same theme employs
His Mufe, and plagues us with an equal noise.
Provok'd by these incorrigible fools,

I left declaiming in pedantic schools;

Where, with men-boys, I ftrove to get renown,
Advifing Sylla to a private gown.

But, fince the world with writing is poffeft,
I'll verfify in spite; and do my best,
To make as much waste paper as the rest.

But why I lift aloft the Satire's rod,

And tread the path which fam'd Lucilius trod,
Attend the caufes which my Mufe have led:
When faplefs eunuchs mount the marriage-bed,
When mannish Mevia, that two handed whore,
Aftride on horfe-back hunts the Tuscan boar,
When all our lords are by his wealth outvy'd,
Whofe razor on my callow beard was try'd;
When I behold the fpawn of conquer'd Nile,
Crifpinus, both in birth and manners vile,

}

[ocr errors]

Pacing in pomp, with cloak of Tyrian dye,
Chang'd oft a-day for needlefs luxury;

And finding oft occafion to be fann'd,
Ambitious to produce his lady-hand;

Charg'd with light summer-rings his fingers fweat,
Unable to fupport a gem of weight:

Such fulfom objects meeting every where,
'Tis hard to write, but harder to forbear.
To view fo lewd a town, and to refrain,
What hoops of iron could my spleen contain !
When pleading Matho, borne abroad for air,
With his fat paunch fills his new-fashion'd chair,
And, after him, the wretch in pomp convey'd,
Whofe evidence his lord and friend betray'd,
And but the wifh'd occafion does attend,
From the poor nobles the laft fpoils to rend,
Whom ev'n fpies dread as their fuperior fiend,
And bribe with prefents; or, when presents fail,
They fend their prostituted wives for bail :
When night-performance holds the place of merit,
And brawn and back the next of kin disherit;
For fuch good parts are in preferment's way,
The rich old madam never fails to pay
Her legacies, by nature's standard given,
One gains an ounce, another gains eleven:
A dear-bought bargain, all things duly weigh'd,
For which their thrice-concocted blood is paid.
With looks as wan, as he who in the brake
At unawares has trode upon a fake;

}

Or play'd at Lyons a declaiming prize,
For which the vanquish'd rhetorician dies.

What indignation boils within my veins, When perjur'd guardians, proud with impious gains,

Choak up the streets, too narrow for their trains!
Whofe wards, by want betrey'd, to crimes are led
Too foul to name, too fulfom to be read!
When he who pill'd his province fcapes the laws,
And keeps his money, though he lost his cause:
His fine begg'd off, contemus his infamy,

Can rife at twelve, and get him drunk ere three:
Enjoys his exile, and, condemn'd in vain,
Leaves thee, prevailing province, to complain?
Such villainies rouz'd Horace into wrath:
And 'tis more noble to purfue his path,
Than an old tale of Diomede repeat,

Or labouring after Hercules to fweat,
Or wandering in the winding maze of Crete ;
Or with the winged fmith aloft to fly,

Or fluttering perish with his foolish boy.

With what impatience must the Mufe behold
The wife, by her procuring husband fold!
For though the law makes null th' adulterer's deed
Of lands to her, the cuckold may fucceed;
Who his taught eyes up to the cieling throws,
And fleeps all over but his wakeful nose.
When he dares hope a colonel's command,
Whofe courfers kept, ran out his father's land;

Who,

Who yet a ftripling, Nero's chariot drove,

Whirl'd o'er the ftreets, while his vain mafter strove
With boasted art to please his eunuch-love:

Would it not make a modeft author dare
To draw his table-book within the square,
And fill with notes, when, lolling at his ease,
Mæcenas-like, the happy rogue he sees
Borne by fix weary'd slaves in open view,
Who cancel'd an old will, and forg’d a new :
Made wealthy at the fmall expence of figning
With a wet feal, and a fresh interlining?
The lady, next, requires a lashing line,
Who squeez'd a toad into her husband's wine:
So well the fashionable medicine thrives,
That now 'tis practis'd ev'n by country wives:
Poisoning, without regard of fame or fear:
And fpotted corpfe are frequent on the bier.
Would't thou to honours and preferments climb?
Be bold in mischief, dare fome mighty crime,
Which dungeons, death, or banishment deserves:
For virtue is but drily prais'd, and starves.
Great men, to great crimes, owe their plate emboft,
Fair palaces, and furniture of cost;

And high commands: a fneaking fin is lost.
Who can behold that rank old letcher keep
His fon's corrupted wife, and hope to fleep?
Or that male-harlot, or that unfledg'd boy,
Eager to fin, before he can enjoy ?

If nature could not, anger would indite
Such woful stuff as I or Shadwell write.

VOL. VII.

}

}

Count

Count from the time, fince old Deucalion's boats Rais'd by the flood, did on Parnaffus float; And, fcarcely mooring on the cliff, implor'd An oracle how man might be restor'd; When foften'd ftones and vital breath ensued, And virgins naked were by lovers view'd; What ever fince that golden age was done, What human kind defires, and what they fhun, Rage, paffions, pleasures, impotence of will, Shall this fatirical collection fill.

What age fo large a crop of vices bore,

Or when was avarice extended more?

When were, the dice with more profusion thrown? The well-fill'd fob not empty'd now alone, But gamefters for whole patrimonies play; The steward brings the deeds which must convey The lost estate: what more than madness reigns, When one short fitting many hundreds drains, And not enough is left him to supply Board-wages, or a footman's livery? fummer-feats did fee? fo many age

What

Or which of our forefathers far'd fo well,
As on feven dishes, at a private meal?
Clients of old were feafted; now a poor
Divided dole is dealt at th' outward door;
Which by the hungry rout is foon dispatch'd:
The paltry largefs, too, feverely watch'd,
Ere given; and every face obferv'd with care,
That no intruding guests ufurp a share,

Know

« ПредишнаНапред »