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النشر الإلكتروني

Studious of every coxcomb's airs,
He drinks, games, dresses, whores, and swears;

O'erlooks with scorn all virtuous arts,

For vice is fitted to his parts.

THE

PHILOSOPHER AND THE PHEASANTS.

THE Sage, awak'd at early day,
Through the deep forest took his way;
Drawn by the music of the groves,
Along the winding gloom he roves:
From tree to tree the warbling throats
Prolong the sweet alternate notes:
But where he past he terror threw,
The song broke short, the warblers flew ;
The thrushes chatter'd with affright,
And nightingales abhor'd his sight;
All animals before him ran,
To shun the hateful sight of man.
"Whence is this dread of every creature
Fly they our figure, or our nature ?"
As thus he walk'd in musing thought,
His ear imperfect accents caught;
With cautious step he nearer drew,
By the thick shade conceal'd from view.
High on the branch a Pheasant stood,
Around her all her listening brood;
Proud of the blessings of her nest,
She thus a mother's care express'd:
"No dangers here shall circumvent;
Within the woods enjoy content.

Sooner the hawk or vulture trust
Than man, of animals the worst:
In him ingratitude you find,
A vice peculiar to the kind.

The sheep, whose annual fleece is dy'd
To guard his health, and serve his pride;
Forc'd from his fold and native plain,
Is in the cruel shambles slain.
The swarms, who, with industrious skill,
His hives with wax and honey fill,
In vain whole summer days employ'd;
Their stores are sold, the race destroy'd.
What tribute from the goose is paid!
Does not her wing all science aid?
Does it not lovers' hearts explain,
And drudge to raise the merchant's gain?
What now rewards this general use ?
He takes the quills, and eats the goose.
Man then avoid, detest his ways,
So safety shall prolong your days.
When services are thus acquitted,
Be sure we Pheasants must be spitted."

4.

THE PIN AND THE NEEDLE.

A PIN who long had serv'd a beauty,
Proficient in the toilet's duty,

Had form'd her sleeve, confin'd her hair,
Or given her knot a smarter air,
Now nearest to her heart was plac'd,
Now in her manteau's tail disgrac'd;
But could she partial Fortune blame,
Who saw her lovers serv'd the same?

At length from all her honours cast,
Through various turns of life she past:
Now glitter'd on a tailor's arm,
Now kept a beggar's infant warm;
Now, rang'd within a miser's coat,
Contributes to his yearly groat;
Now, rais'd again from low approach,
She visits in the doctor's coach:
Here, there, by various fortune tost,
At last in Gresham-hall was lost.
Charm'd with the wonders of the show,
On every side, above, below,
She now of this or that inquires;
What least was understood, admires.
'Tis plain, each thing so struck her mind,
Her head's of virtuoso kind.

"And pray what's this, and this, dear Sir?" "A Needle," says the' interpreter. She knew the name; and thus the fool Address'd her as a tailor's tool.

"A Needle with that filthy stone, Quite idle, all with rust o'ergrown! You better might employ your parts, And aid the sempstress in her arts; But tell me how the friendship grew Between that paltry flint and you."

"Friend, (says the Needle) cease to blame; I follow real worth and fame. Know'st thou the loadstone's power and art, That virtue virtues can impart? Of all his talents I partake,

Who then can such a friend forsake? 'Tis I direct the pilot's hand

To shun the rocks and treacherous sand:

By me the distant world is known,
And either India is our own.

Had I with milliners been bred,

What had I been? the guide of thread;
And drudg'd as vulgar Needles do,
Of no more consequence than you."

THE

SHEPHERD'S DOG AND THE WOLF.

A WOLF, with hunger fierce and bold,
Ravag'd the plains, and thinn'd the fold;
Deep in the wood, secure he lay,
The thefts of night regal'd the day.
In vain the shepherd's wakeful care
Had spread the toils, and watch'd the snare;
In vain the dog pursued his pace,
The fleeter robber mock'd the chase.
As Lightfoot rang'd the forest round,
By chance his foe's retreat he found.
"Let us a while the war suspend,
And reason as from friend to friend."
"A truce!" replies the Wolf. 'Tis done.
The Dog the parley thus begun..

"How can that strong intrepid mind
Attack a weak defenceless kind?
Those jaws should prey on nobler food,
And drink the boar's and lion's blood.
Great souls with generous pity melt,
Which coward tyrants never felt.
How harmless is our fleecy care!
Be brave, and let thy mercy spare."
"Friend, (says the Wolf) the matter weigh
Nature design'd us beasts of prey;

;

As such, when hunger finds a treat,
'Tis necessary Wolves should eat.
If, mindful of the bleating weal,
Thy bosom burn with real zeal,
Hence, and thy tyrant lord beseech;
To him repeat the moving speech :
A Wolf eats sheep but now and then,
Ten thousands are devour'd by men.
An open foe may prove a curse,
But a pretended friend is worse."

THE PAINTER

WHO PLEASED NO BODY AND EVERY BODY,

LEST men suspect your tale untrue,

Keep probability in view.

The traveller leaping o'er those bounds,
The credit of his book confounds.

Who with his tongue hath armies routed,
Makes e'en his real courage doubted.
But flattery never seems absurd;
The flatter'd always take your word:
Impossibilities seem just:
They take the strongest praise on trust.
Hyperboles, though ne'er so great,
Will still come short of self-conceit.

So very like a Painter drew,
That every eye the picture knew;
He hit complexion, feature, air,
So just, the life itself was there.
No flattery with his colours laid,
To bloom restor'd the faded maid;

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