 | Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose |  |
Wit and Folly
And when his wit has leakd it's moysture
Is empty as a Gaping Oyster.
Is empty as a Gaping Oyster.
And might as wel for prophets pas
As Livies Calf or Balams Ass.
As Livies Calf or Balams Ass.
In Plays, the last Act's but the Fag
And therefore may b' allowd to flag.
And therefore may b' allowd to flag.
400
That do's but Dictate and Compile
At charge of nothing but the stile,
Which al that chance to light upon
May freely chaleng as their own.
At charge of nothing but the stile,
Which al that chance to light upon
May freely chaleng as their own.
This sayd—Another of the Crew
Stood up, and sayd—This is to shew
How easy things that are above
Or under Reason are to Prove,
And how far wit upon the Stretch
In things that are not fixt; wil reach,
That may be wrested any way,
But never Renderd at a Stay;
Or if they are, unfix mens Braines,
And seldom prove worth half the Paines:
For Demonstrations rarely Rise
T' outweigh mere Probabilities,
And, though most Certaine, yet th' are such
In matters that import not much,
Are like Mecha[n]iques, Tru in small
Designes, but greater, not at all:
For who would give a Straw to know
The Reason one and one make two?
But Probables, that nere Conclude,
Are of a Nobler Latitude.
Stood up, and sayd—This is to shew
How easy things that are above
Or under Reason are to Prove,
And how far wit upon the Stretch
In things that are not fixt; wil reach,
That may be wrested any way,
But never Renderd at a Stay;
Or if they are, unfix mens Braines,
And seldom prove worth half the Paines:
For Demonstrations rarely Rise
T' outweigh mere Probabilities,
And, though most Certaine, yet th' are such
In matters that import not much,
Are like Mecha[n]iques, Tru in small
Designes, but greater, not at all:
For who would give a Straw to know
The Reason one and one make two?
But Probables, that nere Conclude,
Are of a Nobler Latitude.
For Subtlety and Politiques
Alloy great valours when they mix.
Alloy great valours when they mix.
Fooles in Judging
Are Faine to swallow many a Gudgin.
And Cheat themselves with Tricks as False
As Gamsters Dice, or Juglers Bals.
Are Faine to swallow many a Gudgin.
And Cheat themselves with Tricks as False
As Gamsters Dice, or Juglers Bals.
But, if she takes to virtuosing
To Dabling, Scribling and Composing,
Shee's more insufferable yet
And gives no Quarter with her wit;
On both sides Moote's upon all Cases
With Love and Honor Common Places;
Runs down the Stars, and has the Ods
At Reprimands of all the Gods,
And Rants, as if they were no more
But Statues stil as heretofore
And, like their Images, but Logs
Thrown down from Heav'n to govern Frogs;
And is a Dreadfuller Earestretcher
The[n] the Ablest Conventicle Teacher;
But, if she takes to sing or fiddle,
Her vertus center in the middle,
The Sphere to which al virtu tends,
And leaves to vice ------ Ends;
Does all her Feates by mode and fashion
And Clips false Coyn of Affectation;
At selling Bargaines, far exceeds
The Signe of the three Logger heads,
And cry's down al that is not wit
With Fire and Flame as Juglers spit.
To Dabling, Scribling and Composing,
Shee's more insufferable yet
And gives no Quarter with her wit;
On both sides Moote's upon all Cases
With Love and Honor Common Places;
Runs down the Stars, and has the Ods
At Reprimands of all the Gods,
And Rants, as if they were no more
But Statues stil as heretofore
And, like their Images, but Logs
Thrown down from Heav'n to govern Frogs;
And is a Dreadfuller Earestretcher
The[n] the Ablest Conventicle Teacher;
But, if she takes to sing or fiddle,
Her vertus center in the middle,
401
And leaves to vice ------ Ends;
Does all her Feates by mode and fashion
And Clips false Coyn of Affectation;
At selling Bargaines, far exceeds
The Signe of the three Logger heads,
And cry's down al that is not wit
With Fire and Flame as Juglers spit.
As if his Tongue had got the Bit,
And Ran away with all his wit.
And Ran away with all his wit.
Like Races, where the longest winde
Leave's all the Shorter-breathd behind
And strive's to make his Rams-horns blow
With Noyses alone, down Jericho.
Leave's all the Shorter-breathd behind
And strive's to make his Rams-horns blow
With Noyses alone, down Jericho.
Dilemmas of Polemique wits
When if one misse, the other hit's.
When if one misse, the other hit's.
| Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose | |