20

But I, whom griping penury surrounds,
And hunger, sure attendant upon want,
With scanty offals, and small acid tiff

15
(Wretched repast!) my meagre corps sustain ;
Then solitary walk, or doze at home
In garret vile, and with a warming puff
Regale chill'd fingers; or from tube as black
As winter-chimney, or well-polith'd jet,
Exhale mundungus, ill-perfuming scent;
Not blacker tube, nor of a shorter size,
Smokes Cambro-Britain (vers'd in pedigree)
Sprung from Cadwalader and Arthur, kings
Full famous in romantick tale) when he 25
O’er many a craggy hill and barren cliff,
Upon a cargo of fam'd Ceftrian cheese,
High over-shadowing rides, with a design
To vend his wares, or at th’ Arvonian marte,
Or Maridunum, or the ancient town
Yclip'd Brechinia, or where Vaga's stream
Encircles Ariconium, fruitful foil !
Whence flow nectareous wines, that well

may

vie With Massic, Setin, or renown’d Falern.

Thus while my joyless minutes tedious flow, 35 With looks demure, and filent pace, a Dun, Horrible monster! hated by gods and men, To my aërial citadel ascends, With vocal heel thrice thund'ring at my gate, With hideous accent thrice he calls; I know 40

30

The voice ill-boding, and the folemn found.
What should I do? or whither turn? Amaz'd,
Confounded, to the dark recess I fly
Of wood-hole; strait my bristling hairs erect
Thro' sudden fear; a chilly sweat bedews 45
My shud'ring limbs, and (wonderful to tell!)
My tongue forgets her faculty of speech;
So horrible he seems ! His faded brow
Entrench'd with many a frown, and conic beard,
And spreading band, admir'd by modern faints,
Disastrous acts forebode; in his right hand
Long scrolls of paper folemnly he waves,
With characters and figures dire inscrib'd,
Grievous to mortal eyes; (ye gods, avert
Such plagues from righteous men!) Behind him

stalks
Another monster, not unlike himself,
Sullen of aspect, by the vulgar call's
A Catchpole, whose polluted hands the gods
With force incredible, and magick charms,
Erst have endu'd: if he his ample palm 60
Should haply on ill-fated shoulder lay
Of debtor, strait his body to the touch
Obfequious, (as whilom knights were wont)
To fome inchanted castle is convey'd,
Where gates impregnable, and coercive chains,
In durance strict detain him, till, in form 66
Of money, Pallas fets the captive free.

Beware, ye debtors, when ye walk, beware, Be circumspect; oft with infidious ken The caitiff eyes your steps aloof, and oft 70 Lies perdue in a nook or gloomy cave, Prompt to inchant fome inadvertent wretch With his unhallow'd touch. So (poets fing) Grimalkin, to domestick vermin sworn An everlasting foe, with watchful eye 75 Lies nightly brooding o'er a chinky gap, Protending her fell claws, to thoughtless mice Sure ruin. So her disembowell'd web Arachne, in a hall or kitchin, spreads Obvious to vagrant flies : The secret stands 80 Within her woven cell; the humming prey, Regardless of their fate, rush on the toils Inextricable, nor will aught avail Their arts, or arms, or shapes of lovely hue; The wasp insidious, and the buzzing drone, And butterfly proud of expanded wings Distinct with gold, entangled in her snares Useless resistance make : with

eager

ftrides She tow'ring flies to her expected spoils ; Then, with envenom’d jaws, the vital blood 90 Drinks of reluctant foes, and to her cave Their bulky carcasses triumphant drags.

So pass my days. But, when nocturnal shades This world invelop, and th' inclement air

85

95

Persuades men to repel benumming frosts
With pleasant wines, and crackling blaze of wood;
Me, lonely sitting, nor the glimmering light
Of make-weight candle, nor the joyous talk
Of loving friend, delights; distress'd, forlorn,
Amidst the horrors of the tedious night, 100
Darkling I figh, and feed with dismal thoughts
My anxious mind; or sometimes mournful verse
Indite, and sing of groves and myrtle shades,
Or desperate lady near a purling stream,
Or lover pendant on a willow-tree.

105
Meanwhile I labour with eternal drought,
And restless with, and rave; my parched throat
Finds no relief, nor heavy eyes repose :
But if a slumber haply does invade
My weary limbs, my fancy's still awake, 110
Thoughtful of drink, and eager, in a dream,
Tipples imaginary pots of ale,
In vain; awake I find the settled thirst
Still gnawing, and the pleasant phantom curse.

Thus do I live, from pleasure quite debarr’d,
Nor tafte the fruits that the fun's genial rays
Mature, John-apple, nor the downy peach,
Nor walnut in rough-furrow'd coat secure,
Nor medlar-fruit, delicious in decay:
Adictions great! yet greater till remain : 12@
My galligakins, that have long with food
The winter's fury, and incroaching froits,

A T R

By time subdu'd (what will not time subdue !)
An horrid chasm disclose, with orifice
Wide, discontinuous; at which the winds

125
Eurus and Auster, and the dreadful force
Of Boreas, that congeals the Cronian waves,
Tumultuous enter with dire chilling blasts,
Portending agues. Thus a well-fraught ship,
Long fail'd secure, or thro' th’Ægean deep,
Or the Ionian, till cruising near

131 The Lilybean shore, with hideous crush, On Scylla, or Charybdis (dang 'rous rocks!) She strikes rebounding; whence the shatter'd oak, So fierce a shock unable to withstand, 135 Admits the fea; in at the gaping fide The crowding waves gush with impetuous rage, Refiftless, overwhelming ; horrors seize The mariners ; death in their eyes appears, They stare, they lave, they pump, they swear, they

pray : (Vain efforts !) still the battering waves rush in Implacable, till, delug'd by the foam, The ship sinks found’ring in the vast abyss.