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The RENT due.
Jan. 1. 1679.
To the same.
Last years expence has made me frugal grown:
Your Rent I sav'd, altho so long in Town.
Wit is not current now; the humou'rs hot
I'th' Town, to talk of nothing but the Plot.
No Age a greater wonder hath reveal'd;
The more discover'd 'tis, 'tis more conceal'd.
Thus some late Poets of their Phœbus write;
His Highness hidden is by too much light.
But lest my diff'rent fate (an obscure name)
Should prejudice the title of your Claim;
I have survey'd th' Estate, and Cottage too,
In this short Draught I here present to you.
Your Rent I sav'd, altho so long in Town.
Wit is not current now; the humou'rs hot
I'th' Town, to talk of nothing but the Plot.
No Age a greater wonder hath reveal'd;
The more discover'd 'tis, 'tis more conceal'd.
219
His Highness hidden is by too much light.
But lest my diff'rent fate (an obscure name)
Should prejudice the title of your Claim;
I have survey'd th' Estate, and Cottage too,
In this short Draught I here present to you.
Three Storyes high, upon an Arch 'tis plac'd;
Two Windows in the Front with Chrystal glaz'd;
A double Door; the Leaves of Coral made,
Which to the House, 'twixt Rayls of Pearls convey'd
A supple Porter in his Lodge does wait
To welcome every Guest that pass'd the Gate.
On either side the Door, two Spots of Snow;
Discolour'd now, where Roses once did grow.
Two Tunnels to convey the thicken'd Wind,
Rais'd by the heat, not yet to flame refin'd.
Of Bones, the Roof did like a Cupo show;
Thatcht o're with Straw that on the Soyl did grow.
Worn thin with time; to keep out Wind and Rain,
The Cupo warmly coated is again.
The bony frame dawb'd with a mud-wall case,
Refin'd by th' Fornace of its native place.
The lower Rooms mean Offices contain,
And cleanly kept, through which the Kennels drayn.
Two Windows in the Front with Chrystal glaz'd;
A double Door; the Leaves of Coral made,
Which to the House, 'twixt Rayls of Pearls convey'd
A supple Porter in his Lodge does wait
To welcome every Guest that pass'd the Gate.
On either side the Door, two Spots of Snow;
Discolour'd now, where Roses once did grow.
Two Tunnels to convey the thicken'd Wind,
Rais'd by the heat, not yet to flame refin'd.
Of Bones, the Roof did like a Cupo show;
Thatcht o're with Straw that on the Soyl did grow.
Worn thin with time; to keep out Wind and Rain,
The Cupo warmly coated is again.
The bony frame dawb'd with a mud-wall case,
Refin'd by th' Fornace of its native place.
The lower Rooms mean Offices contain,
And cleanly kept, through which the Kennels drayn.
I'th' second Story, Places choicely drest;—
And first, the Presence-Chamber, where does rest,
In fitting state, the Monarch of the breast.
The Dining-Room, where Ventiducts are set
To bring refreshments for excessive heat.
And Stoves (which wisest Nature there did frame,
Like Vestal-hearths) to save the dying flame.
A sacred Fount does in the Center rise,
Rich as the Spring that water'd Paradise.
Th' Egyptian Queen who quaft a Kingdom up,
Infusing Pearls into her wanton Cup;
The Draughts compar'd, ours have by far the odds;
This was the Nectar of the Demy Gods.
And looks as tho that blushing Queen of Gemms
(The Ruby) were dissolv'd into these Streams.
Hence Princes are in this rich Colour drest;
Since Life it self shines in a Scarlet-Vest.
And first, the Presence-Chamber, where does rest,
In fitting state, the Monarch of the breast.
The Dining-Room, where Ventiducts are set
To bring refreshments for excessive heat.
And Stoves (which wisest Nature there did frame,
Like Vestal-hearths) to save the dying flame.
220
Rich as the Spring that water'd Paradise.
Th' Egyptian Queen who quaft a Kingdom up,
Infusing Pearls into her wanton Cup;
The Draughts compar'd, ours have by far the odds;
This was the Nectar of the Demy Gods.
And looks as tho that blushing Queen of Gemms
(The Ruby) were dissolv'd into these Streams.
Hence Princes are in this rich Colour drest;
Since Life it self shines in a Scarlet-Vest.
And now am I to the third Story come;
The highest, and, alas, the weakest Room!
That once Experience would but cross the Jest,
And prove the highest Chamber furnisht best.
For Knowledge (Nature's guide) should quarter there,
And Judgment, her most trusty Councellour.
Invention, Memory, and Wit, should stay;
And all their Treasures in this Turrit lay.
But for such Guests I have no fitting Room;
Or if I had, I've no such Guests to come.
If you vouchsafe it, You must from your store
(Like Princes) send your Furniture before.
The highest, and, alas, the weakest Room!
That once Experience would but cross the Jest,
And prove the highest Chamber furnisht best.
For Knowledge (Nature's guide) should quarter there,
And Judgment, her most trusty Councellour.
Invention, Memory, and Wit, should stay;
And all their Treasures in this Turrit lay.
But for such Guests I have no fitting Room;
Or if I had, I've no such Guests to come.
If you vouchsafe it, You must from your store
(Like Princes) send your Furniture before.
I've here design'd a Draught with little cost,
To stand a Land-mark, lest your Claim be lost.
And mighty Purchasers, for want of heed,
Oft' leave out petty Parcels in the Deed.
When Alexander did the East subdue,
(And he no Conq'rour was, compar'd to you)
Amidst his many Trophies of renown,
Summing the Audit, he had lost a Crown.
To stand a Land-mark, lest your Claim be lost.
And mighty Purchasers, for want of heed,
Oft' leave out petty Parcels in the Deed.
When Alexander did the East subdue,
(And he no Conq'rour was, compar'd to you)
Amidst his many Trophies of renown,
Summing the Audit, he had lost a Crown.
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