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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
Martin, Samuel (1740-1829)

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AN EPISTLE, IN VERSE,

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Alas! alas! from Boswell's life 'tis plain,
Johnson was proud, irascible, and vain:
On such a man of prejudice and whim,
How could a Boswell fasten his esteem?
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Does it our pity or our mirth provoke,
Boswell is but the titling of the gowk.

The small bird that attends the cuckow, vulgarly pronounced the gowk in Scotland, expresses an inseparable companion of a greater man.


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