The Wiccamical Chaplet a selection of original poetry; comprising smaller poems, serious and comic; classical trifles; sonnets; inscriptions and epitaphs; songs and ballads; mock-heroics, epigrams, fragments, &c. &c. Edited by George Huddesford |
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THE PLAGIARISM OF THE POET-LAUREATE DETECTED;
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 | The Wiccamical Chaplet |  |
155
THE PLAGIARISM OF THE POET-LAUREATE DETECTED;
OR An Ode discovered in a Collection of Poetry of the Age of Queen Elizabeth.
[_]
It is put in the Mouth of a Boar, who, in the original, addresses the Sow and Pigs in the same manner as the Laureate does the New Year 1771.
At length the harvest-time is o'er,
And we no longer are deceiv'd;
Of scanty crops we hear no more
Which Farmer told, and Pigs believ'd:
When of the barley-field he spoke,
And seem'd an object of distress,
E'en then I thought 'twas all a joke,
And that was no uncertain guess.
Shame on your head! at what d'ye stare?
D'ye think a Pig can see the air?
Can you see Fleets and Armies there?
Look down, look down, young Gruntling, mind your feed:
Let winds blow shrill and tempests roar,
Shall the young Pig be wiser than the Boar?
That were a pretty joke indeed!
Had you, like Scotchmen, second sight,
You might see the days and hours advance on rapid wing,
And you might see new spectres of the night,
And the wintry damps fly away from the Spring,
Just like a flock of pigeons from a kite.
And we no longer are deceiv'd;
Of scanty crops we hear no more
Which Farmer told, and Pigs believ'd:
When of the barley-field he spoke,
And seem'd an object of distress,
E'en then I thought 'twas all a joke,
And that was no uncertain guess.
Shame on your head! at what d'ye stare?
D'ye think a Pig can see the air?
Can you see Fleets and Armies there?
Look down, look down, young Gruntling, mind your feed:
Let winds blow shrill and tempests roar,
Shall the young Pig be wiser than the Boar?
That were a pretty joke indeed!
Had you, like Scotchmen, second sight,
You might see the days and hours advance on rapid wing,
And you might see new spectres of the night,
And the wintry damps fly away from the Spring,
Just like a flock of pigeons from a kite.
156
True to herself if Britain prove,
What foreign Foe has She to dread?
Her sacred laws, her Sovereign's love,
Her virtuous pride, by Freedom bred,
Secure at once domestic ease,
And awe th'aspiring nations into peace.
Did Rome e'er court a tyrant's smiles
Till Faction wrought the civil Frame's decay?
Did Greece submit to Philip's wiles
Till her own faithless sons prepar'd his way?
What foreign Foe has She to dread?
Her sacred laws, her Sovereign's love,
Her virtuous pride, by Freedom bred,
Secure at once domestic ease,
And awe th'aspiring nations into peace.
Did Rome e'er court a tyrant's smiles
Till Faction wrought the civil Frame's decay?
Did Greece submit to Philip's wiles
Till her own faithless sons prepar'd his way?
True to herself if Britain prove,
The warring World will league in vain:
Her sacred laws, her Sovereign's love,
Her empire, boundless as the main,
Will guard at once domestic ease,
And awe th'aspiring Nations into Peace.
The warring World will league in vain:
Her sacred laws, her Sovereign's love,
Her empire, boundless as the main,
Will guard at once domestic ease,
And awe th'aspiring Nations into Peace.
157
True to themselves if Pigs would prove,
Safe might they range from ground to ground;
We're sure of Farmer Quickset's love,
And he'll secure us from the pound.
God grant us plenty, health, and ease,
And change the neighbouring turnips into pease!
When have we fled before the hunt
Of boys and yelping puppies in the rear?
Who hath e'er felt the mastiff at his ear
But for some faithless Pig that saw them near,
And would not warn us in a grunt?
Safe might they range from ground to ground;
We're sure of Farmer Quickset's love,
And he'll secure us from the pound.
God grant us plenty, health, and ease,
And change the neighbouring turnips into pease!
When have we fled before the hunt
Of boys and yelping puppies in the rear?
Who hath e'er felt the mastiff at his ear
But for some faithless Pig that saw them near,
And would not warn us in a grunt?
True to themselves if Pigs would prove,
There's ne'er a Dog in all the Parish
Against a Pig would dare to move;
And then in every field we'd rove
As free as in the common Marish.
God grant us plenty, health, and ease,
And change the neighbouring turnips into pease!
There's ne'er a Dog in all the Parish
Against a Pig would dare to move;
And then in every field we'd rove
As free as in the common Marish.
God grant us plenty, health, and ease,
And change the neighbouring turnips into pease!
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