* Ay and No: A Fable.
'N Fable all Things hold Difcourfe ; Then Words, no doubt, must talk of Course. Once on a Time, near Channel-Rory,
Two hoftile Adverbs, Ay and No,
Were haft'ning to the Field of Fight,
And Front to Front stood opposite.
Before each Gen'ral join'd the Van,
Ay, the more courteous Knight, began.
Stop, peevish Particle! beware!
I'm told you are not such a Bear,
But fometimes yield, when offer'd fair.
Suffer yon' Folks a While to tattle;
'Tis We who muft decide the Battle.
Whene'er we war on yonder Stage
With various Fate, and equal Rage,
The Nation trembles at each Blow,
That No gives Ay, and Ay gives No:
Yet in expenfive long Contention
We gain no Office, Grant, or Penfion.
Why then should Kinfolks quarrel thus ?
(For Tavo of You make One of Us.)
To fome wife Statefman let us go,
Where each his proper Ufe may know.
He may admit two fuch Commanders,
And make thofe wait, who serv'd in Flanders.
Let's quarter on a Great-Man's Tongue,
A Treasury Lord, not Mafter Y---g.
Obfequious at his high Command,
Ay fhall march forth to tax the Land.
Impeachments No can beft refift,
And Ay fupport the Civil Lift;
Ay! quick as Cæfar wins the Day;
And No, like Fabius, by Delay.
Sometimes in mutual fly Difguife,
Let Ay's feem No's, and No's feem I's;
Ay's be in Courts Denials meant,
And No's in Bishops give Confent.
Thus, Ay propos'd---And, for Reply,
No, for the firft Time, anfwer'd I.
They parted with a thousand Kiffes,
And fight e'er fince, for Pay, like Savisses.
Phyllis Or, the Progress of Love.
Efponding Phyllis was endu’d
With ev'ry Talent of a Prude:
She trembled when a Man drew near;
Salute her, and the turn'd her Ear ;
If o'er against her you were plac'd,
She durft not look above your Waist:
She'd rather take you to her Bed,
Than let you fee her drefs her Head:
In Church you hear her, thro' the Crowd,
Repeat the Abfolution loud;
In Church, fecure behind her Fan,
She durft behold that Monster, Man:
There practis'd how to place her Head,
And bit her Lips to make them red;
Or, on the Mat devoutly kneeling,
Wou'd lift her Eyes up to the Cieling,
And heave her Bofom unaware,
For neighb`ring Beaux to fee it bare.
At length, a lucky Lover came,
And found Admittance to the Dame.
Suppofe all Parties now agreed,
The Writings drawn, the Lawyer fee'd,
The Vicar and the Ring befpoke;
Guefs, how could fuch a Match be broke?
See then, what Mortals place their Bliss in!
Next Morn betimes the Bride was miffing.
The Mother fcream'd, the Father chid;
Where can this idle Wench be hid ?
No News of Phyl! The Bridegroom came,
And thought his Bride had fculk'd for Shame
Because her Father us'd to fay,
The Girl bad fuch a bashful Way.
Now John the Butler must be fent
To learn the Road, that Phyllis went.
The Groom was wifh'd to faddle Crop ;
For John must neither light, nor stop,
But find her wherefoe'er the fled,
And bring her back Alive or Dead.
See here again the Devil to do;
For, truly, John was miffing too;
The Horfe and Pillion both were gone!
Phyllis, it feems, was fled with John.
Old Madam, who went up to find
What Papers Phyl had left behind,
A Letter on the Toilet fees,
To my much Honour'd Father-Thefe.
Tis always done, Romances tell us, When Daughters run away with Fellows) Fill'd with the choiceft Common-Places, By others us'd in the like Cafes ! "That long ago a Fortune-Teller Exactly faid, what now befel her; "And in a Glass had made her fee "A Serving-Man of low Degree: "It was her Fate, must be forgiven; “For Marriages were made in Heaven: "His Pardon begg'd; but, to be plain, "She'd do't if 'twere to do again; "Thank'd God, 'twas neither Shame nor Sir, "For John was come of honeft Kin, "Love never thinks of Rich and Poor; "She'd beg with John from Door to Door. "Forgive her, if it be a Crime, "She'll never do't another Time. " She ne'er before in all her Life "Once disobey'd him, Maid nor Wife. "One Argument fhe fumin'd up all in, "The Thing was done, and past recalling ; "And therefore hop'd, the fhould recover "His Favour, when his Paffion's over! “She valu'd not what others thought her, "And was---his moft Obedient Daughter. Fair Maidens all attend the Mufe, Who now the wand'ring Pair pursues. Away they rode in homely fort, Their Journey long, their Money short; The loving Couple well bemir'd; The Horfe and both the Riders tir'd;
Their Victuals bad, their Lodging worse ;
Phyl cry'd, and John began to curfe;
Phyl wifh'd, that she had strain'd a Limb,
When first fhe ventur'd out with him
John wish'd, that he had broke a Leg,
When firft for her he quitted Peg.
But what Adventures more befel 'em,
The Mufe hath now no Time to tell 'em ;
How Johnny wheedled, threaten'd, fawn'd,
Till Phyllis all her Trinkets pawn'd:
How oft fhe broke her Marriage Vows,
In Kindness to maintain her Spouse;
Till Swains unwholfome fpoil'd the Trade,
For now the Surgeons must be paid,
To whom thofe Perquifites are gone,
In Chriftian Juftice due to John.
When Food and Raiment now grew scarce, Fate put a Period to the Farce, And with exact Poetic Juftice; For John is Landlord, Phyllis Hostess : They keep, at Staines, the Old Eluc-Boar, Are Cat and Dog, and Rogue and Whore.
The Progress of Poetry.
HE Farmer's Goofe, who in the Stubble
Has fed without Restraint, or Trouble, Grown fat with Corn and fitting ftill, Can fcarce get o'er the Barn-Door Sill:
|