The Poetical Works of The Rev. Samuel Bishop ... To Which are Prefixed, Memoirs of the Life of the Author By the Rev. Thomas Clare |
I. |
THE BOOK. |
II. |
The Poetical Works of The Rev. Samuel Bishop | ||
226
THE BOOK.
When from our Master's hand this theme I took,
Rhyme, nolens volens, coupled it with—Cook:
And tho' the wise say, second thoughts are best,
My first, with your good leave, shall stand the test;
The Cook shall matter for the Book prepare,
And turn my Catalogue to a Bill of Fare:
Nor frown, if puns, more thick than proofs, are laid;
So our poetic Force-meat must be made.
Rhyme, nolens volens, coupled it with—Cook:
And tho' the wise say, second thoughts are best,
My first, with your good leave, shall stand the test;
The Cook shall matter for the Book prepare,
And turn my Catalogue to a Bill of Fare:
Nor frown, if puns, more thick than proofs, are laid;
So our poetic Force-meat must be made.
The Folio Volume's ample bulk supplies
A literary Dish, of larger size.
—In Epic Verse, when skill and genius meet;
'Tis vast Sir-loin, an universal treat.
Solid, tho' savory, flows th' Historic Strain;
Like the boil'd Buttock—cut and come again.
Encyclopedias art's whole scope include;
And set before you science barbicued;
Where, as your stomach serves, your mess you measure,
And choose your Joint, and cut your slice at pleasure.
Fathers and Canonists are tough, dry food;
Mere learned Stock-fish, neither bad nor good.
Law Codes from time a musty sanction get;
As Venison takes it's flavour from fumette.
Words under words, in rows succeeding rows,
The Dictionary's column'd leaf compose;
And stand (in culinary style exprest)
Like Bacon on a larded Turkey's breast.
Long-winded Scholiasts, in th' enormous page,
Hash up the dulness of a former age;
Or the vast vase with Water-souchy fill,
And make insipid, more insipid still:
While Critics, that in sounder sense excel,
Like Smelts round Salmon, grace the dish they swell.
A literary Dish, of larger size.
—In Epic Verse, when skill and genius meet;
'Tis vast Sir-loin, an universal treat.
227
Like the boil'd Buttock—cut and come again.
Encyclopedias art's whole scope include;
And set before you science barbicued;
Where, as your stomach serves, your mess you measure,
And choose your Joint, and cut your slice at pleasure.
Fathers and Canonists are tough, dry food;
Mere learned Stock-fish, neither bad nor good.
Law Codes from time a musty sanction get;
As Venison takes it's flavour from fumette.
Words under words, in rows succeeding rows,
The Dictionary's column'd leaf compose;
And stand (in culinary style exprest)
Like Bacon on a larded Turkey's breast.
Long-winded Scholiasts, in th' enormous page,
Hash up the dulness of a former age;
Or the vast vase with Water-souchy fill,
And make insipid, more insipid still:
228
Like Smelts round Salmon, grace the dish they swell.
So much for Folios.—Smaller Books appear,
Tho' less substantial, yet more various cheer.
—Abridgments give an Author's works in brief;
As Cooks to Jelly stew down shins of beef.
The cloth for Turtle, hack Translators spread;
Then serve up Goose's Gibblets, or Calve's Head.
Reviews and Magazines odd scraps retail;
True Salmagundi stuff, sour, salt, fresh, stale.
Satire is pepper'd Gizzard grill'd in taste.
And what are Modern Essays, but puff-paste?
Comedy's Soup-maigre, from a French Tureen:
And Tragedy, the black -pudding of the scene.
What's Modish Eloquence?—Whipt-cream, for sooth,
Froth'd up and sugar'd, to the vulgar tooth.
State Logic's Chicken-Broth, so thin, so weak!
And Opposition Politics, Bubble-and-squeak!
Love-Poetry's Pap-sauce, soft, simple, sweet:
And Popular Theology, minc'd-meat.
Scribblers, from hand to mouth, who write and live,
In weekly Numbers, mental Spoon-meat give.
Alamode Collops Miscellanies club:
And Novels, sentimental Syllabub.
Tho' less substantial, yet more various cheer.
—Abridgments give an Author's works in brief;
As Cooks to Jelly stew down shins of beef.
The cloth for Turtle, hack Translators spread;
Then serve up Goose's Gibblets, or Calve's Head.
Reviews and Magazines odd scraps retail;
True Salmagundi stuff, sour, salt, fresh, stale.
Satire is pepper'd Gizzard grill'd in taste.
And what are Modern Essays, but puff-paste?
Comedy's Soup-maigre, from a French Tureen:
And Tragedy, the black -pudding of the scene.
What's Modish Eloquence?—Whipt-cream, for sooth,
Froth'd up and sugar'd, to the vulgar tooth.
State Logic's Chicken-Broth, so thin, so weak!
And Opposition Politics, Bubble-and-squeak!
229
And Popular Theology, minc'd-meat.
Scribblers, from hand to mouth, who write and live,
In weekly Numbers, mental Spoon-meat give.
Alamode Collops Miscellanies club:
And Novels, sentimental Syllabub.
Not Books alone from Viands take their cue,
Even Bindings have a spice of Cookery too.
Sheets into Skin, like Sausages are thrust:
Gilding is Garnish; Pasteboard is rais'd-crust.
Even Bindings have a spice of Cookery too.
Sheets into Skin, like Sausages are thrust:
Gilding is Garnish; Pasteboard is rais'd-crust.
Some frivolous gentry of the present day,
In Alphabetic Buckles shine away:
But language needs not fashion's flimsy aid;
It's elemental base is deeper laid:
Your children living, and your grandsires dead,
Lov'd, while they thumb'd, and tasted as they read,
The Horn-book's best edition, Gingerbread.
In Alphabetic Buckles shine away:
But language needs not fashion's flimsy aid;
It's elemental base is deeper laid:
Your children living, and your grandsires dead,
Lov'd, while they thumb'd, and tasted as they read,
The Horn-book's best edition, Gingerbread.
230
Thus Books are intellectual Aliment; drest
For every appetite of every guest:—
Or, if a various reading you can swallow,
“Scripta Palati nunc, quæcunque recepit Apollo.”
For every appetite of every guest:—
Or, if a various reading you can swallow,
“Scripta Palati nunc, quæcunque recepit Apollo.”
The Poetical Works of The Rev. Samuel Bishop | ||