Durgen Or, A Plain Satyr upon a Pompous Satyrist. Amicably Inscrib'd, by the Author, to those Worthy and Ingenious Gentlemen misrepresented in a late invective Poem, call'd, The Dunciad [by Edward Ward] |
 |
 | Durgen |  |
Who, for the lucre of a golden Fee,
Broke thro' the Bounds of Christian Charity,
To animate the Rabble, to abuse
A Worthy, far above so vile a Muse?
Tho', all in vain, for merit kept him free
From your intended base severity:
What envious Lady brib'd thee to express
Her Fury, in the Days of his distress?
And caus'd thy Muse to excreate so poor
A Libel on so brave a Sufferer?
What Power, but Gold, could stupify thy Brain,
And make thee act so far below a Man,
As with inglorious Scandal to pursue
A gallant Pris'ner, when expos'd to view?
A cruel Insult, at so wrong a Time,
That should by Law be punish'd as a Crime:
'Tis strange, so wise a Bard should lay aside
His Senses, and be led by female Pride
Into a fault, so permanent and great,
That Man can scarce forgive, or Time forget:
But Gold and Beauty make the wisest Fools,
For these, the pious Christian breaks his Rules,
And Poets, for the same, we find, turn Womens Fools.
Broke thro' the Bounds of Christian Charity,
To animate the Rabble, to abuse
A Worthy, far above so vile a Muse?
Tho', all in vain, for merit kept him free
From your intended base severity:
What envious Lady brib'd thee to express
Her Fury, in the Days of his distress?
And caus'd thy Muse to excreate so poor
A Libel on so brave a Sufferer?
What Power, but Gold, could stupify thy Brain,
And make thee act so far below a Man,
12
A gallant Pris'ner, when expos'd to view?
A cruel Insult, at so wrong a Time,
That should by Law be punish'd as a Crime:
'Tis strange, so wise a Bard should lay aside
His Senses, and be led by female Pride
Into a fault, so permanent and great,
That Man can scarce forgive, or Time forget:
But Gold and Beauty make the wisest Fools,
For these, the pious Christian breaks his Rules,
And Poets, for the same, we find, turn Womens Fools.
| Durgen | |