The Works of John Hall-Stevenson ... Corrected and Enlarged. With Several Original Poems, Now First Printed, and Explanatory Notes. In Three Volumes |
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 | The Works of John Hall-Stevenson |  |
vii
THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY TO HIMSELF
Free from all pernicious vice,Yet not so scrupulously good,
To want a comfortable spice
To warm a sober Christian's blood.
The sin of Harlotry and Keeping,
Is that which I can least excuse,
That of cohabiting and sleeping,
With an abandon'd common Muse.
More like a Muse's poor toad-eater;
A trollop with a flippant air,
Without one amiable feature,
Or any graces to her share.
You tell me, if I needs must print,
You'll not oppose my foolish will,
And bid me take a sober hint
From sober folks at Strawberry-hill.
Stand forth like them, produce yourself,
Be elegantly bound and letter'd,
Be wise, like them, nor quit your shelf,
But there remain, for ever fetter'd.
viii
As Trublet says, I am none of those;
I only print, because my aim
Is happiness, whilst I compose:
Composing gives us no delight,
Unless we mean to publish what we write.
Scribbling, like Praying, 's an employment,
In which you think yourself a bubble,
Without some prospect of enjoyment,
And satisfaction for your trouble;
And though your hopes at last prove vain,
If you have been amus'd, 'twas so much gain.
If you still teaze me, and persist
That publishing shews a vain heart,
The Songsters upon Dodsley's list
Shall be call'd in to take my part.
And as they strip a lad quite bare,
After they've coax'd him from his play,
Then lay him down, and cut and pare
All his impediments away:
And as the lad without his leave
Is made an excellent Musician,
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As nice as Tristram's Circumcision:
So, though you only just can scrape
Among the Fiddlers of the Nine,
They'll make you drunker than an ape,
And make you think you fiddle fine.
| The Works of John Hall-Stevenson | |