Such, fuch emotions fhould in Britons rife,
When prefs'd by want and weakness Dennis lies;
Dennis, who long had warr'd with modern Huns,
Their Quibbles routed, and defy'd their Puns
A defperate Bulwark, sturdy, firm, and fierce
Against the Gothic Sons of frozen verfe:
How chang'd from him who made the boxes groan, 15
And shook the stage with Thunders all his own!
Stood up to dash each vain Pretender's hope,
Maul the French Tyrant, or pull down the Pope!
If there's a Briton then, true bred and born,
Who holds Dragoons and wooden shoes in scorn;
If there's a Critic of distinguish'd rage;
If there's a Senior, who contemns this age;
Let him to-night his just assistance lend,
And be the Critic's, Briton's, Old Man's Friend.
CHARACTER.
WHEN fimple Macer, now of high renown,
First fought a Poet's Fortune in the Town,
'Twas all th' Ambition his high foul could feel,
To wear red stockings, and to dine with Steel.
Some Ends of verse his Betters might afford;
And gave the harmless fellow a good word.
Set up with thefe, he ventur'd on the Town,
And with a borrow'd Play out-did poor Crown.
There he stopp'd short, nor fince has writ a tittle,
But has the Wit to make the most of little :
Like stunted hide-bound Trees, that just have got
Sufficient fap at once to bear and rot.
Now he begs Verfe, and what he gets commends,
Not of the Wits his foes, but Fools his friends.
So fome coarse Country Wench, almost decay'd, 15
Trudges to town, and firft turns Chambermaid;
Awkward and fupple, each devoir to pay;
She flatters her good Lady twice a-day;
Thought wondrous honeft, though of mean degree,
And strangely lik'd for her Simplicity:
In a tranflated Suit, then tries the Town,
With borrow'd Pins, and Patches not her own :
But just endur'd the Winter she began,
And in four Months a batter'd Harridan.
Now nothing left, but wither'd, pale, and fhrunk, 25 To bawd for others, and go fhares with Punk.
To Mr. JOHN MOORE, AUTHOR of the celebrated WORM-POWDER.
How much, egregious Moore, are we
Deceiv'd by fhews and forms!
Whate'er we think, whate'er we see,
All Humankind are Worms.
Man is a very Worm by birth,
Vile, reptile, weak, and vain!
A while he crawls upon the earth,
Then shrinks to earth again..
That Woman is a Worm, we find
E'er fince our Grandame's evil;
She first convers'd with her own kind,
That ancient Worm, the Devil.
The learn'd themselves we Book-w
-worms name,
The Blockhead is a Slow-worm;
The Nymph whose tail is all on flame,
Is aptly term'd a Glow-worm :
The Fops are painted Butterflies,
That flutter for a day;
First from a Worm they take their rise,
And in a Worm decay.
The Flatterer an Earwig grows;
Thus Worms fuit all conditions;
Misers are Muck-worms, Silk-worms Beaus,
And Death-watches Physicians.
That Statesmen have the Worm, is feen
By all their winding play;
Their Confcience is a Worm within,
That gnaws them night and day.
Ah Moore! thy skill were well employ'd,
And greater gain would rise,
If thou could'ft make the Courtier void
The Worm that never dies!
O learned Friend of Abchurch-Lane,
Who fett'ft our entrails free;
Vain is thy Art, thy Powder vain,
Since Worms fhall eat ev'n thee.
Our Fate thou only can'ft adjourn
Some few short years, no more!
Ev'n Button's Wits to Worms fhall turn,
Who Maggots were before.
SONG, by a Perfon of Quality.
Written in the Year 1733.
Luttering fpread thy purple Pinions,
Gentle Cupid, o'er my Heart;
I a Slave in thy Dominions;
Nature must give Way to Art.
Mild Arcadians, ever blooming,
Nightly nodding o'er your Flocks,
See my weary Days confuming,
All beneath yon flowery Rocks.
III.
Thus the Cyprian Goddefs weeping,
Mourn'd Adonis, darling Youth: '
Him the Boar, in Silence creeping,
Gor'd with unrelenting Tooth.
IV.
Cynthia, tune harmonious Numbers;
Fair Difcretion, ftring the Lyre;
Sooth my ever-waking Slumbers:
Bright Apollo, lend thy Choir.
Gloomy Pluto, King of Terrors,
Arm'd in adamantine Chaips,
Lead me to the Crystal Mirrors,
Watering foft Elyfian Plains.
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