 | The poems of Dr. Yalden |  |
FABLE VII. THE FOX AND WEAZLE.
TO THE LATE HONOURABLE THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE PRIZE-OFFICE.
A needy Weazle heretofore,
Very rapacious, lank, and poor,
That had no place, small comings-in,
And liv'd in terrour of the gin;
Nor got a morsel to his hole,
But what he either begg'd or stole;
One night, a foraging for prey,
He found a store-house in his way:
Each cranny then he nimbly past,
With lantern jaws and slender waist;
And made long time his quarters good,
On slaughter'd mice and wheaten food.
But growing corpulent and round,
Too small the widest chink was found:
And now he squeez'd and thurst in vain,
For liberty and home again.
Very rapacious, lank, and poor,
That had no place, small comings-in,
And liv'd in terrour of the gin;
Nor got a morsel to his hole,
But what he either begg'd or stole;
One night, a foraging for prey,
He found a store-house in his way:
Each cranny then he nimbly past,
With lantern jaws and slender waist;
And made long time his quarters good,
On slaughter'd mice and wheaten food.
But growing corpulent and round,
Too small the widest chink was found:
And now he squeez'd and thurst in vain,
For liberty and home again.
A Fox that chanc'd to stroll that way,
For meditation's sake, or prey,
Stood grinning at him for a while,
With rogueish looks and sneering smile;
And though he shrewdly gave a guess,
Yet ask'd him how and what's the case;
And why his Weazleship would keep
In durance vile, and play boh-peep.
For meditation's sake, or prey,
Stood grinning at him for a while,
With rogueish looks and sneering smile;
And though he shrewdly gave a guess,
Yet ask'd him how and what's the case;
And why his Weazleship would keep
In durance vile, and play boh-peep.
Quoth he, “Alack, sir, I was lean,
Haggard and poor, when I came in:
A skeleton, mere skin and bone!
Though now so gross and bulky grown,
That with good chear and dainties fed,
My rump is bigger than my head.
But if a helping paw you'll lend,
To force a board and serve a friend;
So fain I would my bacon save,
I'll kiss your foot and live your slave.”
Haggard and poor, when I came in:
A skeleton, mere skin and bone!
Though now so gross and bulky grown,
That with good chear and dainties fed,
My rump is bigger than my head.
But if a helping paw you'll lend,
To force a board and serve a friend;
So fain I would my bacon save,
I'll kiss your foot and live your slave.”
Quoth Ren, “We doctors hold it best,
After a long debauch, to fast:
Then as for discipline, 'tis fit,
You take a quantum sufficit.
Slacken with abstinence your skin,
And you'll return as you got in:
For, till each collop you refund,
You're like to quarter in Lob's-pound.”
After a long debauch, to fast:
Then as for discipline, 'tis fit,
You take a quantum sufficit.
Slacken with abstinence your skin,
And you'll return as you got in:
For, till each collop you refund,
You're like to quarter in Lob's-pound.”
THE MORAL.
Cæsar, no more in foreign camps expose
Your sacred life, to Britain's generous foes:
Thy dread tribunal now erect at home,
And, arm'd with vengeance, to her rescue come.
Your sacred life, to Britain's generous foes:
Thy dread tribunal now erect at home,
And, arm'd with vengeance, to her rescue come.
In power her basest enemies remain,
Oppress thy subjects, and thy treasures drain:
With sums immense they raise their fortunes high,
Though armies starve, and fleets neglected lie.
Oppress thy subjects, and thy treasures drain:
With sums immense they raise their fortunes high,
Though armies starve, and fleets neglected lie.
Bane of the war! curse of thy martial reign!
You share the toil and dangers, they the gain:
To justice then the known offenders bring,
Avenge thy people, and assert the king.
You share the toil and dangers, they the gain:
To justice then the known offenders bring,
Avenge thy people, and assert the king.
| The poems of Dr. Yalden | |