Was ever such a happy swain!
He stuffs and swills, and stuffs again.
"I'm quite asham'd-'tis mighty rude
"To eat so much-but all's so good!
"I have a thousand thanks to give-
"My Lord alone knows how to live."
No sooner said, but from the hall
Rush chaplain, butler, dogs, and all :
"A rat, a rat! clap to the door"-
The cat comes bouncing on the floor.
O for the heart of Homer's mice,
Or gods to save them in a trice!
(It was by Providence they think,
For your damn'd stucco has no chink)

205

210

215

"An't please your Honour," quoth the peasant,

"This same desert is not so pleasant :

"Give me again my holly tree,

"A crust of bread and liberty!

221

Continuatque dapes; necnon vernaliter ipsis
Fungitur officiis, prælambens omne quod affert.
Ille cubans gaudet mutata sorte, bonisque
Rebus agit lætum convivam: cum subito ingens
Valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque.
Currere per totum pavidi conclave; magisque
Exanimes trepidare, simul domos alta Molossis
Personuit canibus. tum rusticus, Haud mihi vita
Est opus hac, ait; et valeas; me sylva, cavusque
Tutus ab insidiis tenui solabitur ervo.

Volume III.

H

IMITATED.

TO L. BOLINGBROKE.

ST. JOHN, whose love indulg'd my labours past,
Matures my present, and shall bound my last!
Why' will you break the sabbath of my days?
Now sick alike of envy and of praise.
Public too long, ah! let me hide my age;
See modest 2 Cibber now has left the stage:
Our gen'rals now, 3 retir'd to their estates,
Hang their old trophies o'er the garden gates,
In life's cool ev'ning satiate of applause,

5

Nor4 fond of bleeding ev'n in Brunswick's cause. 10 5 A voice there is, that whispers in my ear, ('Tis Reason's voice, which sometimes one can hear) "Friend Pope! be prudent, let your Muse take "And never gallop Pegasus to death;

6

[breath,

15

"Lest stiff and stately, void of fire or force, "You limp,likeBlackmore, on aLord Mayor'shorse."

HOR. LIB. I. EPIST. I.

PRIMA dicte mihi, summo dicende camena

I Spectatum satis, et donatum jam rude, quæris,
Mæcenas, iterum antique me includere ludo.
Non eadem est ætas, non mens. 2 Vejanius, armis
3 Herculis ad postem fixis, latet abditus agro,
Ne populum extrema toties exoret arena.

5 Est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem ;
Solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne

6

et ad extremum ridendus, et ilia ducat.

Farewell then, verse, and love, and ev'ry toy,
The rhymes and rattles of the man or boy;
What 2 right, what true, what fit, we justly call,
Let this be all my care-for this is all:

To lay this 3 harvest up, and hoard with haste
What ev'ry day will want, and most the last.

But ask not to what + doctors I apply?
Sworn to no master, of no sect am I :
As drives the storm, at any door I knock,

20

25

And house with Montaigne now, or now with Locke.
Sometimes a patriot, active in debaté,

Mix with the world, and battle for the state;
Free as young Lyttleton, her cause pursue,
Still true to virtue, 7 and as warm as true:
Sometimes with Aristippus or St. Paul,
Indulge my candour, and grow all to all;
Back to my native moderation slide,
And win my way by yielding to the tide.

30

Nunc itaque et ' versus et cætera ludicra pono ; Quid z verum atque decens, curo et rogo, et omnis in hoc sum:

3 Condo, et compono, quæ mox depromere possim. Ac ne forte roges, 4 quo me duce, quo lare tuter: Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri, 5 Quo me cunque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes. Nunc agilis fio, et mersor 6 civilibus undis, Virtutis veræ custos, 7 rigidusque satelles ;

*

Nunc in Aristippig furtim præcepta relabor,

* Omnis Aristippum decuit color, et status, et res. P.

I

Long as to him who works for debt the day, 35 Long as the night to her whose love's away, Long as the year's dull circle seems to run When the brisk minor pants for twenty-one ; So slow th' unprofitable moments roll, That lock up all the functions of my soul; That keep me from myself, and still delay Life's instant bus'ness to a future day; That 3 task which, as we follow or despise, The eldest is a fool, the youngest wise;

40

Which done, the poorest can no wants endure; 45
And which not done, the richest must be poor.
4 Late as it is, I put myself to school,

And feel some 5 comfort not to be a fool.
6 Weak tho' I am of limb, and short of sight,
Far from a lynx, and not a giant quite,
I'll do what Mead and Cheselden advise,
To keep these limbs, and to preserve these eyes.

50

Et mihi res, non me rebus, subjungere conor. 'Ut nox longa, quibus mentitur amica, diesque Longa videtur opus debentibus; ut piger annus Pupillis, quos dura premit custodia matrum : Sic mihi tarda 2 fluunt ingrataque tempora, quæ spem Consiliumque morantur agendi gnaviter 3 id, quod Æque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus æque, Æque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit. 4 Restat, ut his ego me ipse regam 5 solerqueelementis: "Non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus ; Non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungi :

2

And men must walk at least before they dance. Say, does thy blood rebel, thy bosom move 55 With wretched av'rice, or as wretched love? Know there are words and spells which can controul, 3 Between the fits, this fever of the soul; [apply'd, Know there are rhymes which, 4 fresh and fresh Will cure the arrant'st puppy of his pride. 160

Be furious, envious, slothful, mad, or drunk, 6 Slave to a wife, or vassal to a punk,

A Switz, a High-Dutch or a Low-Dutch bear; All that we ask is but a patient ear.

8 'Tis the first virtue vices to abhor, And the first wisdom to be fool no more: But to the world no bugbear is so great As want of figure and a small estate.

9

I

65

Nec, quia desperes in victi membra Glyconis,
Nodosa corpus nolis prohibere chiragra.
Est quodam prodire ' tenus, si non datur ultra.
2 Fervet avaritia, miseroque cupidine pectus ?
Sunt verba et voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem
Possis, et 3 magnam morbi deponere partem.
Laudis amore tumes? sunt certa piacula, quæ te
Ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello.

6

5 Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator; Nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit, Si modo culturæ patientem commodet aurem. 8 Virtus est, vitium fugere; et sapientia prima, Stultitia caruisse. vides, quæ maxima credis.