The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton ... Fifth Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. To which are now added Inscriptionum Romanarum Delectus, and An Inaugural Speech As Camden Professor of History, never before published. Together with Memoirs of his Life and Writings; and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. By Richard Mant |
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ODE TO A GRIZZLE WIG.
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 | The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton |  |
204
ODE TO A GRIZZLE WIG.
By a Gentleman who had just left off his Bob.
All hail, ye Curls, that, rang'd in reverend row,
With snowy pomp my conscious shoulders hide!
That fall beneath in venerable flow,
And crown my brows above with feathery pride!
With snowy pomp my conscious shoulders hide!
That fall beneath in venerable flow,
And crown my brows above with feathery pride!
High on your summit, Wisdom's mimick'd air
Sits thron'd, with Pedantry her solemn sire,
And in her net of awe-diffusing hair
Entangles fools, and bids the croud admire.
Sits thron'd, with Pedantry her solemn sire,
And in her net of awe-diffusing hair
Entangles fools, and bids the croud admire.
O'er every lock, that floats in full display,
Sage Ignorance her gloom scholastic throws;
And stamps o'er all my visage, once so gay,
Unmeaning Gravity's serene repose.
Sage Ignorance her gloom scholastic throws;
And stamps o'er all my visage, once so gay,
Unmeaning Gravity's serene repose.
Can thus large Wigs our reverence engage?
Have Barbers thus the pow'r to blind our eyes?
Is science thus conferr'd on every sage,
By Bayliss, Blenkinsop, and lofty Wise?
Have Barbers thus the pow'r to blind our eyes?
205
By Bayliss, Blenkinsop, and lofty Wise?
But thou, farewell, my Bob! whose thin-wove thatch
Was stor'd with quips and cranks, and wanton wiles,
That love to live within the one-curl'd Scratch,
With fun, and all the family of smiles.
Was stor'd with quips and cranks, and wanton wiles,
That love to live within the one-curl'd Scratch,
With fun, and all the family of smiles.
Safe in thy privilege, near Isis' brook,
Whole afternoons at Wolvercote I quaff'd;
At eve my careless round in High-street took,
And call'd at Jolly's for the casual draught.
Whole afternoons at Wolvercote I quaff'd;
At eve my careless round in High-street took,
And call'd at Jolly's for the casual draught.
No more the wherry feels my stroke so true;
At skittles, in a Grizzle, can I play?
Woodstock, farewell! and Wallingford, adieu!
Where many a scheme reliev'd the lingering day.
At skittles, in a Grizzle, can I play?
Woodstock, farewell! and Wallingford, adieu!
Where many a scheme reliev'd the lingering day.
Such were the joys that once Hilario crown'd,
Ere grave Preferment came my peace to rob:
Such are the less ambitious pleasures found
Beneath the Liceat of an humble Bob.
Ere grave Preferment came my peace to rob:
Such are the less ambitious pleasures found
Beneath the Liceat of an humble Bob.
| The Poetical Works of the Late Thomas Warton | |