 | Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose |  |
153
WIT AND FOLLY
A man of Quick and Active wit
For Drudgery is more unfit,
Compard to those of Duller Parts,
Then Running Nags to draw in Carts.
For Drudgery is more unfit,
Compard to those of Duller Parts,
Then Running Nags to draw in Carts.
Have wee not Built a Stately Colledge
T' instruct Four Nations in all knowledge
(Who now are Barbarus and Rude)
As soon as once they are subdu'de?
But what or where these Nations are
Wee know as little as they care
Nor when the Busnes wilbe don
Unles th' are Colonies i' th' Moon.
T' instruct Four Nations in all knowledge
(Who now are Barbarus and Rude)
As soon as once they are subdu'de?
But what or where these Nations are
Wee know as little as they care
Nor when the Busnes wilbe don
Unles th' are Colonies i' th' Moon.
Fooles (like Philosophers) disdain
All that's Impossible t' obtain,
And b'ing incapable of wit
Dispise, and undervalew it;
And as the Greeks by Hors, and Bul,
Discrib'd what s'ever 's great, and Full:
So he that would discribe their wit
By Horse and Bull must blazon it.
All that's Impossible t' obtain,
And b'ing incapable of wit
Dispise, and undervalew it;
And as the Greeks by Hors, and Bul,
Discrib'd what s'ever 's great, and Full:
So he that would discribe their wit
By Horse and Bull must blazon it.
—None but Sots
Would put the Moon out for her Spots.
Would put the Moon out for her Spots.
No Asse
'Ere knew what kinde of Beast he was.
'Ere knew what kinde of Beast he was.
Wit beare's no Rate but as it pleases:
So Pearels in Fishes, are Diseases,
And Perfumes of the Richest Sents
In Beasts but sores, or excrements.
So Pearels in Fishes, are Diseases,
And Perfumes of the Richest Sents
In Beasts but sores, or excrements.
Fancy in the Darke see's best
When outward eies Discern the least.
When outward eies Discern the least.
As we finde Small Partys are
The fittest for Surprize in ware,
So Feeble wits in Consultations
Are best at Cavils and evasions.
The fittest for Surprize in ware,
So Feeble wits in Consultations
Are best at Cavils and evasions.
154
Wit and Prayse (like Salt and sweet
In Cookery) can never meete.
In Cookery) can never meete.
The Lives of th' old Philosophers of Greece,
Were but their Apothegm's and Repartee's.
For all their Actions Historys discover,
Are what they us'd so often to say over.
Were but their Apothegm's and Repartee's.
For all their Actions Historys discover,
Are what they us'd so often to say over.
Dancers jog down all their wit
Out of their Heads, into their Feet.
Out of their Heads, into their Feet.
The Ignorant and wise
Are to each other of a Size;
And both as nat'rally contemne
The wise, th' Ignorant, and they them.
Are to each other of a Size;
And both as nat'rally contemne
The wise, th' Ignorant, and they them.
Great wits have only been Preferd
In Princes Traines to be interd;
And, when they cost them nothing, Placd
Among their Followers not the last;
But, while they livd, were far enough
From al Admittances kept of[f].
In Princes Traines to be interd;
And, when they cost them nothing, Placd
Among their Followers not the last;
But, while they livd, were far enough
From al Admittances kept of[f].
Wit
Wil neither Love, nor money get.
Wil neither Love, nor money get.
As Salt Rust[s] swords; so too much wit
Debases valour when they meet.
Debases valour when they meet.
Th' one Half of wit's maintaind by Folly
That finde's it Fresh supplys to Rally;
For wit's unable to Invent
What Idiots naturally vent.
That finde's it Fresh supplys to Rally;
For wit's unable to Invent
What Idiots naturally vent.
Wits who have little enough t' ingage,
Are cold, before their time, to th' Stage.
Are cold, before their time, to th' Stage.
For these take measure of their own,
That Cry all others Talent down.
And by their own false Standards, try
All others Ingenuity.
That Cry all others Talent down.
And by their own false Standards, try
All others Ingenuity.
One who had wanted long
A Sphincter Mussle to his Tongue.
A Sphincter Mussle to his Tongue.
155
So great a Thief, hee'd cut the wit
From under a Smal Poets feet.
From under a Smal Poets feet.
All Prophesies that Rhime and Quible
Are truer the[n] the Leaves of Sibil.
Are truer the[n] the Leaves of Sibil.
Too much or too little Ingenuity and wit
Do only render th' owners fit
For Nothing, but to be undon
Much easier, then if th' had none.
Do only render th' owners fit
For Nothing, but to be undon
Much easier, then if th' had none.
Like Philosophers, A wittall
Is with his Parts Content though ere so little;
For hee believs, that has the least,
Hee's better furnishd then the best.
Is with his Parts Content though ere so little;
For hee believs, that has the least,
Hee's better furnishd then the best.
In th' Age of Turnaments, and Tilting
All wit in Stiching lay and Quilting;
When Men did weare their Prettyst Jests
Imbroderd on their Backs and Brests,
And None Invok'd a Muse or Phœbus,
But to be Inspird with a Rebus;
And He was Held the subtlest witted,
Whose Motto, and Imprese best Fitted.
From hence came Clinch, at first, and Quibble,
At which the Revrend Men still Nibble,
And hold their wit and Parts undon
In overseeing of a Pun.
When all our venerable Benches
Gave Judgment and Pronouncd in Clinches,
And he, who was but at a Loss,
Was Counted very Dull and Gross;
And none so worthy to sit there,
As those who on a Poynt could Jeare.
Next after these came Ends of Latin,
Though now 'tis held but idle Prating,
But then the Greates[t] Hight of Art
To have most Sentences by Heart.
All wit in Stiching lay and Quilting;
When Men did weare their Prettyst Jests
Imbroderd on their Backs and Brests,
And None Invok'd a Muse or Phœbus,
But to be Inspird with a Rebus;
And He was Held the subtlest witted,
Whose Motto, and Imprese best Fitted.
From hence came Clinch, at first, and Quibble,
At which the Revrend Men still Nibble,
And hold their wit and Parts undon
In overseeing of a Pun.
When all our venerable Benches
Gave Judgment and Pronouncd in Clinches,
And he, who was but at a Loss,
Was Counted very Dull and Gross;
And none so worthy to sit there,
As those who on a Poynt could Jeare.
Next after these came Ends of Latin,
Though now 'tis held but idle Prating,
But then the Greates[t] Hight of Art
To have most Sentences by Heart.
For Nature never gave to Mortall yet
A Free and Arbitrary Pow'r of wit,
But bound him to the Good Behavior for't
That he should never use it to do hurt.
A Free and Arbitrary Pow'r of wit,
But bound him to the Good Behavior for't
That he should never use it to do hurt.
156
Most men are so unjust to looke upon
Anothers wit as Enemy t' his own.
Anothers wit as Enemy t' his own.
For wit and Fancy, like a Diamond,
The more exact, and curious, 'tis ground,
Is forcd, for evry Caract, to abate,
As much in valew, as it wants in weight.
The more exact, and curious, 'tis ground,
Is forcd, for evry Caract, to abate,
As much in valew, as it wants in weight.
It is a harder thing for men to Rate
Their own Parts at an æqual estimate,
Then cast up Fractions, in th' Account of heaven,
Of time, and motion, and Adjust them eaven:
For modest Persons, never had a tru
Particular, of all, that is their Due.
Their own Parts at an æqual estimate,
Then cast up Fractions, in th' Account of heaven,
Of time, and motion, and Adjust them eaven:
For modest Persons, never had a tru
Particular, of all, that is their Due.
All wit do's but Divert men from the Road,
In which things vulgarly are understood,
And Force Mistake and Ignorance to own
A Better Sense, then commonly is known.
In which things vulgarly are understood,
And Force Mistake and Ignorance to own
A Better Sense, then commonly is known.
For Men Learn sooner then they can Imagin,
Take Folly and Ill habits by Contagion,
And, as the Persons they converse with Hap,
Catch Ignorance or Reason like a Clap
And Propagate the epidemique Ach
Which all the Rest of one another catch.
Take Folly and Ill habits by Contagion,
And, as the Persons they converse with Hap,
Catch Ignorance or Reason like a Clap
And Propagate the epidemique Ach
Which all the Rest of one another catch.
As no Edge is accounted sharp and keene
That by the subtlest Eie is to be seen,
So no wit for Acute should be Allowd
That's Plaine, and Easy to be understood.
That by the subtlest Eie is to be seen,
So no wit for Acute should be Allowd
That's Plaine, and Easy to be understood.
For those get least, that take the greatest Pains,
But least of all i' th' Drudgery of Brains,
A Natral Sign of weaknes, as an Ant
Is more Laborius then an Elephant,
And Children are more busy at their Play
Then men that wisest pas their time away.
But least of all i' th' Drudgery of Brains,
A Natral Sign of weaknes, as an Ant
Is more Laborius then an Elephant,
And Children are more busy at their Play
Then men that wisest pas their time away.
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