Ut versus facerem: fed, quod non desit, habentem,

Quae poterunt unquam fatis expurgare cicutae,

Ni melius dormire putem, quam scribere versus ?

& Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes ;

Eripuere jocos, venerem, convivia, ludum;

Tendunt extorquere poemata. quid faciam vis ?

Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque.

Notes. Ver. 69. Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive,] For it would be very hard upon Authors, if the subscribing for a Book, which does honour to one's Age and Country, and consequently reflects back part of it on the Subscri. bers, Phould be esteemed a debt or obligation.

And certain Laws, by fuff'rers thought unjust, 60
Deny'd all posts of profit or of truft:
Hopes after hopes of pious Papists fail’d,
While mighty WILLIAM's thund'ring arm prevail'd.
For Right Hereditary tax'd and fin’d,
He stuck to poverty with peace of mind; 65
And me, the Muses help'd to undergo it;
Convict a Papist he, and I a Poet.
But (thanks to Homer) since I live and thrive,
Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive,
Sure I lould want the care of ten Monroes,

70 If I would scribble, rather than repose.

: Years foll'wing years, steal something ev'ry day. At last they steal us from ourselves away ; In one our Frolics, one Amusements end, In one a Mistress drops, in one a Friend :

75 This subtle Thief of life, this paltry Time, What will it leave me, if it snatch my rhime? If ev'ry wheel of that unweary'd Mill That turn’d ten thousand verses, now stands still.

But after all, what wou'd you have me do? 80 When out of twenty I can please not two;

Norgs. VER. 70. Monroes,] Dr. Monroe, Physician to Bedlam-Hospital. P.

VER, 73. Al last they steal us from ourselves away;} i. e. Time changes all our passions, appetites, and inclinations.

Carmine tu gaudes : hic delectatur iambis ;

Ille Bioncis sermonibus, et fale nigro.

Tres mihi convivae prope diffentire videntur,

Poscentes vario multum diversa palato.

Quid dem? quid non dem? renuis quod tu, jubet

alter:

Quod petis, id fane eft invisum acidumque duobus.

i Praeter caetera mc Romaene poemata censes Scribere posse, inter tot curas totque labores ? Hic sponsum vocat, hic auditum scripta, reli&tis Omnibus officiis: cubat hic in colle Quirini, Hic extremo in Aventino; visendus uterque.

Intervalla vides humane commoda.

« Verum

« Purae sunt plateae, nihil ut meditantibus obftet."

Festinat calidus mulis gerulifque redemtor :

Torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina tignum:

Notes. VER. 87. Oldfield - Dartineuf ] Two celebrated Glut. tons. This inftarce adds a beauty to the whole passage,

85

i

90

When this Heroics only deigns to praise,
Sharp Satire that, and that Pindaric lays ?
One likes the Pheasant's wing, and one the legs
The vulgar boil, the learned roast an egg ;
Hard talk ! to hit the palate of such guests,
When Oldfield loves, what Dartineuf detests.

But grant I may relapse, 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, business, feasts, and

friends! 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 thereAt ten for certain, Sir, in Bloomsb'ry square 95 Before the Lords at twelve my Cause comes There's a Rehearsal, Sir, exact at one. " Oh but a Wit can study in the streets, 66 And raise his mind above the mob he meets." Not quite so well however as one ought;

100 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.

NOTES: as intimating that the demand for verse is only a species of luxury

Triftia robustis luctantur funera plauftris :

Hac rabiosa fugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit sus.

k I nunc, et versus tecum meditare canoros.

Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus, et fugit urbes,

Rite cliens Bacchi, fomno gaudentis et umbra.

Tu me inter ftrepitus nocturnos atque diurnos

Vis canere, et contracta sequi veftigia vatum ?

Ingenium, fibi quod vacuas desumsit Athenas,

Et ftudiis annos septem dedit, insenuitque

Libris et curis, ftatua taciturnius exit

Plerumque, et rifu populum quatit: hic ego rerum

Fluctibus in mediis, et tempeftatibus urbis,

Notes. VER. 104. Have you not seen, etc.] The satirical pleasantry of this image, and the kumourous manner of representing it, raises the imitation, in this place, far above the original.

VER. 113. Would drink and doze, etc.] This has not the delicacy, or elegant ambiguity of,

Rite cliens Bacchi, fomno gaudentis et umbra.