 | Alexander Pope: Minor poems |  |
128
A Farewell to LONDON.
In the Year 1715.
Dear, damn'd, distracting Town, farewell!
Thy Fools no more I'll teize:
This Year in Peace, ye Critics, dwell,
Ye Harlots, sleep at Ease!
Thy Fools no more I'll teize:
This Year in Peace, ye Critics, dwell,
Ye Harlots, sleep at Ease!
Soft B*** and rough C***s, adieu!
Earl Warwick make your Moan,
The lively H****k and you
May knock up Whores alone.
Earl Warwick make your Moan,
The lively H****k and you
May knock up Whores alone.
To drink and droll be Rowe allow'd
Till the third watchman toll;
Let Jervase gratis paint, and Frowd
Save Three-pence, and his Soul.
Till the third watchman toll;
Let Jervase gratis paint, and Frowd
Save Three-pence, and his Soul.
129
Farewell Arbuthnot's Raillery
On every learned Sot;
And Garth, the best good Christian he,
Altho' he knows it not.
On every learned Sot;
And Garth, the best good Christian he,
Altho' he knows it not.
Lintot, farewell! thy Bard must go;
Farewell, unhappy Tonson!
Heaven gives thee for thy Loss of Rowe,
Lean Philips, and fat Johnson.
Farewell, unhappy Tonson!
Heaven gives thee for thy Loss of Rowe,
Lean Philips, and fat Johnson.
Why should I stay? Both Parties rage;
My vixen Mistress squalls;
The Wits in envious Feuds engage;
And Homer (damn him!) calls.
My vixen Mistress squalls;
The Wits in envious Feuds engage;
And Homer (damn him!) calls.
The Love of Arts lies cold and dead
In Hallifax's Urn;
And not one Muse of all he fed,
Has yet the Grace to mourn.
In Hallifax's Urn;
And not one Muse of all he fed,
Has yet the Grace to mourn.
My Friends, by Turns, my Friends confound,
Betray, and are betray'd:
Poor Y**r's sold for Fifty Pound,
And B****ll is a Jade.
Betray, and are betray'd:
Poor Y**r's sold for Fifty Pound,
And B****ll is a Jade.
Why make I Friendships with the Great,
When I no Favour seek?
Or follow Girls Seven Hours in Eight?—
I need but once a Week.
When I no Favour seek?
Or follow Girls Seven Hours in Eight?—
I need but once a Week.
Still idle, with a busy Air,
Deep Whimsies to contrive;
The gayest Valetudinaire,
Most thinking Rake alive.
Deep Whimsies to contrive;
The gayest Valetudinaire,
Most thinking Rake alive.
130
Solicitous for others Ends,
Tho' fond of dear Repose;
Careless or drowsy with my Friends,
And frolick with my Foes.
Tho' fond of dear Repose;
Careless or drowsy with my Friends,
And frolick with my Foes.
Laborious Lobster-nights, farewell!
For sober, studious Days;
And Burlington's delicious Meal,
For Sallads, Tarts, and Pease!
For sober, studious Days;
And Burlington's delicious Meal,
For Sallads, Tarts, and Pease!
Adieu to all but Gay alone,
Whose Soul, sincere and free,
Loves all Mankind, but flatters none,
And so may starve with me.
Whose Soul, sincere and free,
Loves all Mankind, but flatters none,
And so may starve with me.
| Alexander Pope: Minor poems | |