 | Poems on several subjects |  |
An Epistle to Mr P---, one of his Majesty's Officers of Excise, on his ridiculing my Verses.
Sir,
Suppose grammarians, such as you, write fine,
Immortalizing heroes in each line;
Yet who's to thank you? Sure it's ne'er be me;
Your education natural wants supplie.
Immortalizing heroes in each line;
Yet who's to thank you? Sure it's ne'er be me;
Your education natural wants supplie.
Homer and Horace, when the world was young,
They then invented several sorts of song,
As Nature taught them, in their mother-tongue.
They then invented several sorts of song,
As Nature taught them, in their mother-tongue.
Like to a shepherd on the rural plain,
Who tunes his sang amidst the rustic train;
His fellows praise him for his soft sweet voice;
The flocks they listen, seeming to rejoice.
The milking maids lay down their pails and dance,
When to the fold he whistling doth advance:
His charming voice sounds in their ears, till they
Acquire the tune, and lilt it o'er next day.
Who tunes his sang amidst the rustic train;
His fellows praise him for his soft sweet voice;
The flocks they listen, seeming to rejoice.
The milking maids lay down their pails and dance,
When to the fold he whistling doth advance:
His charming voice sounds in their ears, till they
Acquire the tune, and lilt it o'er next day.
Though you who have poetic art survey'd,
The Latin tongue, and many authors read,
Compose fine numbers in heroic style;
'Tis but mere imitation all the while.
The Latin tongue, and many authors read,
Compose fine numbers in heroic style;
'Tis but mere imitation all the while.
But new invention, such as Homer had,
And in their mother-tongue, as Horace did:
Purely they wrote, each as dame Nature taught;
Their works new wit, new fancy, and new thought.
And in their mother-tongue, as Horace did:
Purely they wrote, each as dame Nature taught;
Their works new wit, new fancy, and new thought.
But we must have supplies from other parts,
Or shamefully we will mismanage arts:
We learn the modes, and languages, and rules,
Or else we look like stupid brutish fools.
Or shamefully we will mismanage arts:
We learn the modes, and languages, and rules,
Or else we look like stupid brutish fools.
Some brutes they are so docile, that they will
Incline, and ape men's actions to the full.
But few of men, though they can read and write
Their native language, are in one art complete,
Especially in poetry, who can,
In homely lays, both style and numbers scan?
I ne'er admire the learned, though they scance
On style and numbers, and fine verse advance;
For though the genius should decline, they might,
E'en force their way, in making verses right.
Incline, and ape men's actions to the full.
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Their native language, are in one art complete,
Especially in poetry, who can,
In homely lays, both style and numbers scan?
I ne'er admire the learned, though they scance
On style and numbers, and fine verse advance;
For though the genius should decline, they might,
E'en force their way, in making verses right.
The warbling quire that ushers in the spring,
All know they by a natural instinct sing;
And so do I, though never, all my days,
Was ever master of one Latin phrase.
Though I may nibble at the lowest sprays,
I cannot climb to touch the lofty bays.
All know they by a natural instinct sing;
And so do I, though never, all my days,
Was ever master of one Latin phrase.
Though I may nibble at the lowest sprays,
I cannot climb to touch the lofty bays.
| Poems on several subjects | |