An Epistle in Verse, occasioned by the death of James Boswell, Esquire of Auchinleck -- Addressed to the Rev. Dr. T. D. By the Rev. Samuel Martin |
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 | An Epistle in Verse, occasioned by the death of James Boswell, Esquire |  |
What share had nature, what his birth, his friends,
His company, his principles, his ends,
'Tis not for us to say; but,. certes, here
Genius and eccentricity appear:
Somewhat original did Nature feel,
And Boswell made it more peculiar still.
“I leave the beaten path; I am, I shall
Be celebrated, an original.”—
So Pride, or rather Vanity, has said:
And very clowns originals are made:
And had much wiser been, with honest folk,
Nor hatching, nor exhibiting, a joke;
Nor hunters of anecdote, nor quite keen
Of new, and rare, and odd, or heard or seen;
And willing to submit to toil and care,
And pence, for the outré and the bizarre;
To be, or to be thought, queer, quaint, and new,
And much obtrusive on the public view.
Much better had that care, and pence, and toil,
And flagitated talk, and midnight oil,
On what is plain and useful, been expended,
On something good acquir'd, or bad amended;
Science to cultivate, or to attain
Professional eclat, or honest gain;
To please a father, or to choose a wife;
In short, to be respectable in life.
His company, his principles, his ends,
'Tis not for us to say; but,. certes, here
Genius and eccentricity appear:
Somewhat original did Nature feel,
And Boswell made it more peculiar still.
“I leave the beaten path; I am, I shall
Be celebrated, an original.”—
So Pride, or rather Vanity, has said:
And very clowns originals are made:
And had much wiser been, with honest folk,
Nor hatching, nor exhibiting, a joke;
Nor hunters of anecdote, nor quite keen
Of new, and rare, and odd, or heard or seen;
And willing to submit to toil and care,
And pence, for the outré and the bizarre;
To be, or to be thought, queer, quaint, and new,
And much obtrusive on the public view.
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And flagitated talk, and midnight oil,
On what is plain and useful, been expended,
On something good acquir'd, or bad amended;
Science to cultivate, or to attain
Professional eclat, or honest gain;
To please a father, or to choose a wife;
In short, to be respectable in life.
| An Epistle in Verse, occasioned by the death of James Boswell, Esquire | |