By what criterion do you eat, d'ye think,
If this is priz'd for sweetness, that for stink?
When the tir'd glutton labours thro' a treat,
He finds no relish in the sweetest meat;
He calls for something bitter, something sour,
And the rich feast concludes extremely poor.

1

30

Cheap eggs, and herbs, and olives, still we see ; 35 Thus much is left of old simplicity!

2 The robin redbreast till of late had rest,
And children sacred held a martin's nest,
Till baccaficos sold so dev'lish dear

To one that was, or would have been, a peer.
3 Let me extol a cat on oysters fed,
I'll have a party at the Bedford-head i
Or ev❜n to crack live crawfish recommend;
I'd never doubt at court to make a friend.
4 'Tis yet in vain, I own, to keep a pother
About one vice and fall into the other:

I

40

45

Atque acidas mavult inulas. ' necdum omnis abacta Pauperies epulis regum: nam vilibus ovis, Nigrisque est oleis hodie locus. haud ita pridem Gallonî præconis erat acipensere mensa

Infamis. quid? tum rhombus minus æquor alebat ? 2 Tutus erat rhombus, tutoque ciconia nido; Donec vos auctor docuit prætorius. ergo

3 Si quis nunc mergos suaves edixerit assos; Parebit pravi docilis Romana juventus.

+ Sordidus a tenui victu distabit, Ofello

Between excess and famine lies a mean;
Plain but not sordid, tho' not splendid clean.
I Avidien or his wife (no matter which,
For him you'll call a 2 dog, and her a bitch)
Sell their presented partridges and fruits,
And humbly live on rabbits and on roots:
3 One half-pint bottle serves them both to dine,
And is at once their vinegar and wine :

4

50

But on some lucky day, (as when they found 55
A lost bank-bill, or heard their son was drown'd)
At such a feast, 5 old vinegar to spare,

Is what two souls so gen'rous cannot bear :
Oil, tho' it stink, they drop by drop impart,
But souse the cabbage with a bounteous heart. 60
6 He knows to live who keeps the middle state,
And neither leans on this side nor on that;

Judice. nam frustra vitium vitaveris illud;
Si te alio pravum detorseris. ' Avidienus,
2 Cui canis ex vero ductum cognomen adhæret,
Quinquennes oleas est, et sylvestria corna;

3 Ac, nisi mutatum, parcit defundere vinum, et (liCujus odorem olei nequeas perferre:

Ilie repotia, natales, aleosve dierum

4 Festos albatus celebret) cornu ipse bilibri Caulibus instillat, 5 veteris non parcus aceti.

[cebit

Quali igitur victu sapiens utetur, et horum Utrum imitabitur ? hac urget lupus, hac canis, aiunt. 6 Mundus erit, qui non offendet sordibus, atque

1

Nor stops for one bad cork his butler's pay,
Swears, like Albutius, a good cook away;
Nor lets, like Nævius, ev'ry error pass,
The musty wine, foul cloth, or greasy glass.

65

3 Now hear what blessings temperance can bring: (Thus said our friend, and what he said I sing) 4 First health: the stomach (cramm'd from ev'ry dish, A tomb of boil'd and roast, and flesh and fish, 70 Where bile, and wind, and phlegm, and acid, jar, And all the man is one intestine war) Remembers oft' 5 the schoolboys simple fare, The temp'rate sleeps, and spirits light as air. "How pale each worshipful and rev'rend guest 75 Rise from a clergy or a city feast!

What life in all that ample body say?
What heav'nly particle inspires the clay?

In neutram partem cultus miser. 'Hic neque servis.
Albutî senis exemplo, dum munia didit,
Sævus erit; nec sit ut simplex 2Nævius,unctam [num.
Convivis præbebit aquam : vitium hoc quoque mag-

3 Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quæ quantaque secum
Afferat. 4 in primis valeas bene: nam variæ res
Ut noceant homini, credas, memor illius escæ
Quæ simplex 5 olim tibi sederit. at simul assis
Miscueris elixa, simul conchylia turdis;

Dulcia se in bilem vertent, stomachoque tumultum Lenta feret pituita. 6 vides, ut pallidus omnis

The soul subsides, and wickedly inclines

To seem but mortal ev'n in sound divines.

'On morning wings how active springs the mind That leaves the load of yesterday behind! How easy every labour it pursues !

How coming to the poet ev'ry Muse!
2 Not but we may exceed some holy time,
Or tir'd in search of truth or search of rhyme:
Ill health some just indulgence may engage,
And more the sickness of long life, old age:
3 For fainting age what cordial drop remains,
If our intemp'rate youth the vessel drains?

85

90

4 Our fathers prais'd rank ven'son. You suppose, Perhaps young men! our fathers had no nose.

Cœna desurgat dubia? quin corpus onustum
Hesternes vitiis animum quoque prægravat una,
Atque affigit humo divinæ particulum auræ.
'Alter, ubi dicto citius curata sopori

Membra dedit, vegetus pæscripta ad munia surgit.
2 Hic tamen ad melius poterit transcurrere quandam ;
Sive diem festum rediens advexerit annus,
Seu recreare volet tenuatum corpus; ubique
Accedent anni, et tractari mollius ætas

Imbecilla volet. 3 tibi quidnam accedet ad istam,
Quam puer et validus præsumis. mollitiem; seu
Dura valetudo inciderit, seu tarda senectus? [nasus
*Rancidum aprum antiqui laudabant:` non quia

5

Not so: a buck was then a week's repast,
And 'twas their point, I ween, to make it last;
More pleas'd to keep it till their friends could come
Than eat the sweetest by themselves at home. 96
'Why had not I in those good times my birth,
Ere coxcomb pies or coxcombs were on earth?
Unworthy he the voice of Fame to hear,

100

2 That sweetest music to an honest ear, (For 'faith, Lord Fanny! you are in the wrong, The world's good word is better than a song) Who has not learn'd 3 fresh sturgeon and ham-pie Are no rewards for want and infamy!

When luxury has lick'd up all thy pelf,

105

Curs'd by thy neighbours, thy trustees, thyself;
To friends to fortune, to mankind, a shame,
Think how posterity will treat thy name;
Ard buy a rope, that future times may tell
Thou hast at least bestow'd one penny well.

110

Illis nullus erat; sed, credo, hac mente quod hospes Tardius adveniens vitiatum commodius, quam Integrum edax dominus consumeret. hos utinam Heroas natum tellus me prima tulisset. [inter

Das aliquid famæ, quæ carmine gratior aurem Occupat humanem ? grandes rhombi, patinæque Grande ferunt una 3 cum damno dedecus. adde * Iratum patruum, vicinos te tibi iniquum, Et frustra mortis cupidum, cum deerit egenti SAs, laquei pretium.