(Thus fung a bard of old)
A dire black ftone, bound by a thread,
Trembled o'er each devoted head,
And all the mirth appall'd.
A Fury too, among the reft,
Uprear'd her dreadful fnaky creft,
And hifs'd among the meat :
And, ftrange to tell! th' unwelcome guest
Quite difcompos'd the joyous feast,
And fpoilt the regal treat.
The poets fing too, as I'm told,
(I mean they fung in times of old)
The dangers of the great;
How Fortune's wheel, rolling about,
Whirls giddy mortals in, or out,
Fixt to no fteady feat.
The lofty scaffold tow'rs on high,
And climbs ambitiously the sky;
One rotten plank is found-
Tumbles from its aërial height
The whole, by its unlucky weight,
A ruin on the ground.
Excelfa turris tabulata, unde altior effet
Cafus, et impulfæ præceps immane ruinæ.
The moral hence is mighty plain,
The avaricious, falfe, and vain,
(If plain the muses speak)
When they unwieldy wealth defire,
When proudly they too high afpire,
Should look well to their NECK!
CORINNA, in the country bred,
Harbour'd ftrange notions in her head;
Notions in town quite out of fashion:
Such as, that love's a dang'rous paffion;
That virtue is the maiden's jewel;
And, to be safe, she must be cruel.
Thus arm'd, she'ad long secur'd her honour
From all affaults yet made upon her;
Had scratch'd th' impetuous captain's hand;
Had torn the lawyer's gown and band;
And gold refus'd from knights and 'fquires,
To bribe her to her own defires:
For, to fay truth, fhe thought it hard.
To be of pleasures thus debarr'd,
She faw by others freely tafted;
So pouted, pin'd, grew pale, and wasted:
Yet, notwithstanding her condition,
Continued firm in oppofition.
At length a troop of horse came down,
And quarter'd in a neighb'ring town.
The cornet he was tall and young,
And had a moft bewitching tongue.
They faw and lik'd. The fiege begun,
Each hour he some advantage won.
He ogled first;-she turn'd away ;-
But met his eyes the following day.
Then her reluctant hand he feizes;
That foon the gives him, when he pleases.
Her ruby lips he next attacks :--
She ftruggles ;-in a while fhe fmacks,
Her fnowy breast he then invades :
That yields too after fome parades ;
And of that fortress once poffeft,
He quickly mafters all the reft.
No longer now a dupe to fame,
She fmothers or refifts her flame,
But loves without or fear or shame.
So have I feen the Tory race
Long in the pouts for want of place,
Never in humour, never well,
Wishing for what they dar'd not tell ;
Their heads with country notions fraught,
Notions in town not worth a groat;
These tenets all reluctant quit,
And ftep by step at laft fubmit
To reafon, eloquence, and Pitt.
The moral hence is mighty plain,
The avaricious, falfe, and vain,
(If plain the mufes fpeak)
When they unwieldy wealth defire,
When proudly they too high afpire,
Should look well to their NECK!
CORINNA, in the country bred,
Harbour'd ftrange notions in her head;
Notions in town quite out of fashion :
Such as, that love's a dangʼrous passion ;
That virtue is the maiden's jewel;
And, to be fafe, fhe must be cruel.
Thus arm'd, she'ad long secur'd her honour
From all affaults yet made upon her;
Had fcratch'd th' impetuous captain's hand;
Had torn the lawyer's gown and band;
And gold refus'd from knights and 'fquires,
To bribe her to her own defires:
For, to fay truth, fhe thought it hard
To be of pleafures thus debarr'd,
She faw by others freely tafted;
So pouted, pin'd, grew pale, and wasted:
Yet, notwithstanding her condition,
Continued firm in opposition.
At length a troop of horse came down,
And quarter'd in a neighb'ring town.
The cornet he was tall and young,
And had a most bewitching tongue.
They faw and lik'd. The fiege begun,
Each hour he fome advantage won.
He ogled first ;-she turn'd away ;—
But met his eyes the following day.
Then her reluctant hand he feizes;
That foon the gives him, when he pleases.
Her ruby lips he next attacks :-
She struggles ;-in a while fhe fmacks,
Her fnowy breaft he then invades :
That yields too after fome parades ;
And of that fortress once poffeft,
He quickly mafters all the rest. ́
No longer now a dupe to fame,
She fmothers or refifts her flame,
But loves without or fear or shame.
So have I feen the Tory race
Long in the pouts for want of place,
Never in humour, never well,
Wishing for what they dar'd not tell ;
Their heads with country notions fraught, worth
These tenet
And fter
To re
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