The Works of Peter Pindar [i.e. John Wolcot] ... With a Copious Index. To which is prefixed Some Account of his Life. In Four Volumes |
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 | The Works of Peter Pindar [i.e. John Wolcot] |  |
91
ODE XXIII.
Peter concludeth his Odes—Seemeth hungry— Expostulateth with the Reader—And getteth the Start of the World, by first praising his own Works.
Tom Southern to John Dryden went one day,
To buy a head and tail piece for his play:—
‘Thomas,’ quoth John ‘I've sold my goods too cheap;
So, if you please, my price shall take a leap.’
To buy a head and tail piece for his play:—
‘Thomas,’ quoth John ‘I've sold my goods too cheap;
So, if you please, my price shall take a leap.’
O reader, look me gravely in the face;—
Speak, is not that with me and thee the case?
For this year's Odes I charge thee half a crown:
So, without grumbling, put thy money down:
For things are desperately ris'n, good Lord!
Fish, flesh, coals, candles, window-lights, and board.
Why should not charming poetry then rise?
That comes so dev'lish far too—from the skies!
And, lo! the verses that adorn this page,
Beam, comet-like, alas! but once an age.
Speak, is not that with me and thee the case?
For this year's Odes I charge thee half a crown:
So, without grumbling, put thy money down:
For things are desperately ris'n, good Lord!
Fish, flesh, coals, candles, window-lights, and board.
Why should not charming poetry then rise?
That comes so dev'lish far too—from the skies!
And, lo! the verses that adorn this page,
Beam, comet-like, alas! but once an age.
| The Works of Peter Pindar [i.e. John Wolcot] | |