The works of Mr. Thomas Brown Serious and Comical, In Prose and Verse; In four volumes. The Fourth Edition, Corrected, and much Enlarged from his Originals never before publish'd. With a key to all his Writings |
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The PROLOGUE, addrest to Mr. Midgly.
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 | The works of Mr. Thomas Brown |  |
The PROLOGUE, addrest to Mr. Midgly.
'Tis true, nor is it worth Denial,My Verse has never yet stood Trial
Of Poetick Smiths that meet still,
At Urwin Tom's, or Urwin Will;
(For thus, Sir, Modern Revolution
Has split the Wits, t'avoid Confusion,
And set up Brother against Brother,
That they mayn't clapper-claw each other.)
That I should think myself a Poet,
And vainly dare in Print to shew it:
I, who never pass'd, as yet,
The Test of the mis-judging Pit,
Nor i'th' Galleries tickl'd Crowd,
'Till they have clap'd and laugh'd aloud:
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Yet have drawn one pitying Tear:
Nor with Sir Courtly, Roundelays
Have made to garnish out new Plays;
Nor Virgil's great majestick Lines
Melted into enervate Rhimes;
Nor witty Horace, e'er did venture
To burlesque into modern Banter;
Nor gentle Ovid e'er did force
To zounds a River for a Horse;
Nor, in sharp Juvenal's stronger Verse,
Perverted into Dogrel Farce;
Nor ever durst, as yet, presume
To venture on a meer Lampoon;
Nor, in short, few Words being best,
E'er could make a bawdy Jest.
I'll tell you then, since you'll needs know it,
Why I set up now for a Poet;
'Tis not for what most of us write,
To fill my Purse, or shew my Wit;
But purely out of real Affection,
To fill up my Friend's Collection.
Therefore, sweet Sir, in haste, adieu t'ye,
For I'll adjourn now to my Duty.
| The works of Mr. Thomas Brown | |