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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FABLE V. The DOG and the CAT.
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 | The Works of John Hall-Stevenson |  |
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FABLE V. The DOG and the CAT.
Interest fascinates both age and youth,And, with a glance of her bewitching eye,
Can make a Minister speak truth,
Or make a mighty Monarch tell a lie.
She can set brothers by the ears,
And, what you'll scarce believe, perhaps,
Make sisters as harmonious as the spheres,
And live together without pulling caps.
'Tis she gives every one her place,
Oft, like a blundering marshal at a feast,
Joining a scoundrel to his grace,
An atheist to a priest.
Interest, well understood,
Made Solomon, makes Melcomb now declare
That life is only good
To eat and drink, and laugh, and banish care.
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Each a famous politician,
Were meditating as they sat,
Plans and projects of ambition.
By the same fire were set to warm,
Fragments of their master's dinner;
Temptations to alarm,
The frailty of a sinner.
Clear prurient water stream'd from Pompey's jaws,
And Tabby look'd demure, and lick'd her paws;
And as two plenipos,
For fear of a surprise,
When both have something to propose,
Examine one another's eyes;
Or like two Maids, tho' smit by different swains,
In jealous conference o'er a dish of tea,
Pompey and Tabby both, cudgell'd their brains,
Studying each other's physiognomy.
Pompey, endow'd with finer sense,
Discover'd in a cast of Tabby's face
A symptom of concupiscence,
Which made it a clear case.
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Pompey address'd her in this fashion;
Both you and I, with vigilance and zeal,
Becoming faithful dogs, and pious cats,
Have guarded day and night this common-weal
From robbery and rats;
All that we get for this, Heaven knows,
Is a few bones and many blows.
Let us no longer fawn and whine,
Since we have talents and are able;
Let us impose an equitable fine
Upon our master's table;
And, to be brief,
Let us each chuse a single dish,
I'll be contented with roast beef,
Take you that turbot—you love fish.
Thus every dog and cat agrees,
When they can settle their own fees.
Thus two contending chiefs are seen
To agree at last in every measure;
One takes the management of the marine,
The other of the nation's treasure.
| The Works of John Hall-Stevenson | |