(And little fure imported to remove,
To hunt for Truth in Maudlin's learned grove.)
But knottier points we knew not half so well,
Depriv'd us foon of our paternal Cell ;
And certain Laws, by fuff'rers thought unjust,
Deny'd all pofts of profit or of truft:
Hopes after hopes of pious Papifts fail'd,
While mighty WILLIAM's thund'ring arm prevail'd. For Right Hereditary tax'd and fin'd,
And me, the Muses help'd to undergo it;
Convict a Papist he, and I a Poet.
But (thanks to Homer) fince I live and thrive,
Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive,
Sure I fhould want the care of ten ** Monroes,
If I would fcribble, rather than repose.
7 Years foll'wing years, fteal fomething ev'ry day, At last they steal us from our felves away;
Atque inter filvas Academi quærere veram.
Dura fed emovere loco me tempora grate;
Civilifque rudem belli tulit aftus in arma,
Cæfaris Augufti non refponfura lacertis.
Unde fimul primùm me dimifere Philippi,
Decifis bumilem pennis, inopemque paterni
Et laris & fundi, paupertas impulit audax
Ut verfus facerem: fed, quod non defit, habentem,
Quæ poterunt unquam fatis expurgare cicutæ,
Ni melius dormire putem, quàm fcribere verfus ?
7 Singula de nobis anni prædantur euntes;
*Dr. MONROE, Phyfician to Bedlam Hofpital.
F
In one our Frolicks, one Amusements end,
In one a Mistress drops, in one a Friend :
This fubtle Thief of life, this paltry Time,
What will it leave me, if it fnatch my rhime?
If ev'ry wheel of that unweary'd Mill
That turn'd ten thousand verses, now ftands ftill.
8 But after all, what wou'd you have me do? 80 When out of twenty I can please not two; When this Heroicks only deigns to praise, Sharp Satire that, and that Pindarick lays ? One likes the Pheasant's wing, and one the leg The vulgar boil, the learned roaft an egg; Hard task to hit the palate of such guests, When Oldfield loves, what Dartineuf detefts. 9 But grant I may relapfe, for want of grace, Again to rhime, can London be the place? Who there his muse, or felf, or foul attends, In crouds, and courts, law, bufinefs, feafts and friends,
Eripuere jocos, venerem, convivia, ludum,
Tendunt extorquere poemata. quid faciam vis?
8 Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque.
Carmine tu gaudes: bic delectatur iambis ;
Ille Bioneis fermonibus, & fale nigro.
Tres mibi convive prope diffentire videntur,
Pofcentes vario multum diverfa palato.
Quid dem? quid non dem ? renuis tu quod jubet alter:
Quod petis, id fanè eft invijum acidumque ducbus.
9 Præter cætera, me Romæne poemata cenfes
Scribere poffe, inter tot curas totque labores ?
My counsel fends to execute a deed :
A Poet begs me, I will hear him read :
In Palace-yard at nine you'll find me there-
At ten for certain, Sir, in Bloomfb'ry-square-
Before the Lords at twelve my Caufe comes on- 95
There's a Rehearsal, Sir, exact at one.-
"Oh but a Wit can ftudy in the streets,
"And raife his mind above the mob he meets."
Not quite fo well however as one ought;
A hackney-coach may chance to spoil a thought,
And then a nodding beam, or pig of lead,
God knows, may hurt the very ableft head.
Have you not seen, at Guild-hall's narrow pass,
Two Aldermen dispute it with an Afs?
And Peers give way, exalted as they are,
Ev'n to their own S-r-v--rance in a Car?
10 Go, lofty Poet! and in fuch a croud,
Sing thy fonorous verse
Hic fponfum vocat, bic auditum fcripta, relictis
Omnibus officiis: cubat hic in colle Quirini,
Hic extremo in Aventino; vifendus uterque.
Intervalla vides humane commoda! "Verum
"Paræ funt platea, nihil ut meditantibus obftet."
Feftinat calidus mulis gerulifque redemptor;
Torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina tignum :
Triftia robuftis luctantur funera plauftris:
Hac rabiofa fugit canis, bac lutulenta ruit fus.
101 nunc, & verfus tecum meditare canoros.
Alas! to Grotto's and to Groves we run,
To Eafe and filence, ev'ry Mufe's fon:
Blackmore himself, for any grand effort,
Would drink and doze at * Tooting or Earl's-Court.
How fhall I rhime in this eternal roar?
How match the bards whom none e'er match'd before?
11 The Man, who stretch'd in Ifis' calm retreat 116
To books and study gives fev'n years compleat,
See! ftrow'd with learned duft, his night-cap on,
He walks, an object new beneath the fun!
The boys flock round him, and the people stare: 120
So ftiff, so mute! some statue you would swear,
Stept from its pedestal to take the air!
And here, while town, and court, and city roars,
With mobs, and duns, and foldiers, at their doors;
Shall I, in London, act this idle part?
Compofing fongs, for Fools to get by heart?
Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus, & fugit urbes, Rite cliens Bacchi, fomno gaudentis & umbra. Tu me inter ftrepitus nocturnos atque diurnos Vis canere, & contacta fequi veftigia vatum ?
11 Ingenium, fibi quod vacuas defumfit Athenas, Et ftudiis annos feptem dedit, infenuitque Libris & curis, ftatuâ taciturnius exit Plerumque, & rifu populum quatit: bìc ego rerum Fluctibus in mediis, & tempeftatibus Urbis, Verba lyra motura fonum conne&tere digner?
*Two Villages within a few miles of London.
12 The Temple late to brother Sergeants faw, Who deem'd each other Oracles of Law;
With equal talents, these congenial fouls
One lull'd th' Exchequer, and one stunn'd the Rolls; 130
Each had a gravity wou'd make you split,
And shook his head at My, as a Wit.
Twas, "Sir, your law"-- and "Sir, your eloquence"-
"Yours, Cooper's manner-- and yours Talbot's Sense."
13 Thus we difpofe of all poetic merit,
Yours Milton's genius, and mine Homer's spirit.
Call Tibbald Shakespear, and he'll fwear the Nine
Dear Cibber! never match'd one Ode of thine.
Lord! how we ftrut thro' Merlin's Cave, to fee
No Poets there, but Stephen, you, and me.
Walk with respect behind, while we at ease
Weave laurel Crowns, and take what names we please.
"My dear Tibullus!" if that will not do,
"Let me be Horace, and be Ovid you:
12 Frater erat Roma Confulti Rhetor; ut alter Alterius fermone meros audiret honores : Gracchus ut hic illi foret, hic ut Mucius illi. Qui minùs argutos vexat furor ifte poetas ? 13 Carmina compono, bic elegos; mirabile vifu! Calatumque novem Mufis opus !" afpice primùm, Quanto cum faftu, quanto molimine circum
Spettemus vacuam Romanis vatibus ædem.
Mox etiam (fi forte vacas) fequere, & procul audi,
Quid ferat, & quare fibi nectat uterque coronam.
Cadimur, & totidem plagis confumimus hoftem,
Lento Samnites ad lamina prima duello.
Difcedo Alcaus puncto illius ; ille meo quis?
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