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] |
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 | Durgen |  |
Ye Gods, that dwell in some ætherial Mist,
Or only in poetick Brains subsist,
Inspire my humble Muse with pow'r to please
All, but the common Foes to human ease,
Whose restless Envy labours to postpone
And stigmatize all Merit but their own:
If I must rail, when in my spleen I write,
Be them alone the objects of my spight;
But let my Friends be sacred to my Muse,
And no ill-natur'd Jest their favour lose;
By me, let no ingrateful Dirt be thrown,
But all their Faults be hid, as if they'd none;
Poor mercenary Wits may be allow'd,
With naked Scandal to divert the Crowd,
But Poets, re-refin'd from common Dust,
Should file and polish off all earthy rust,
And, like the Gods, be generous and just.
Or only in poetick Brains subsist,
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All, but the common Foes to human ease,
Whose restless Envy labours to postpone
And stigmatize all Merit but their own:
If I must rail, when in my spleen I write,
Be them alone the objects of my spight;
But let my Friends be sacred to my Muse,
And no ill-natur'd Jest their favour lose;
By me, let no ingrateful Dirt be thrown,
But all their Faults be hid, as if they'd none;
Poor mercenary Wits may be allow'd,
With naked Scandal to divert the Crowd,
But Poets, re-refin'd from common Dust,
Should file and polish off all earthy rust,
And, like the Gods, be generous and just.
| Durgen | |