 | The fifth Epistle of the first Book of Horace imitated |  |
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THE FIFTH EPISTLE OF THE First Book of HORACE Imitated.
To ROBERT JOCELYN, Esq;
His Majesty's Attorney General for the Kingdom of IRELAND.
To lean on common Oak cou'd Jocelyn bear,
Without a golden Claw injoy a Chair;
Nor dread, what Cheyne wou'd prescribe to eat,
Five little Plates; a vegetable Treat!
With open Heart my Friend I wou'd invite,
Soon as the setting Sun proclaims the Night.
Without a golden Claw injoy a Chair;
Nor dread, what Cheyne wou'd prescribe to eat,
Five little Plates; a vegetable Treat!
With open Heart my Friend I wou'd invite,
Soon as the setting Sun proclaims the Night.
My Vaults nor rich Burgundian Juice contain;
Nor yet the flow'ry Odor of Champain.
But Port I hate. Neat Bourdeaux is my Wine,
A Grape of happy Year, tho' common Vine;
Between La-Fit and Tour the Borderer grew:
And You may drink worse Claret for Morgeux.
Then cask'd, when Dorset twice Hibernia grac'd;
One Year, 'tis true, wou'd meliorate the Taste.
But must my Pleasure be the while withstood?
No! on those Terms no Vintage cou'd be good.
Nor yet the flow'ry Odor of Champain.
But Port I hate. Neat Bourdeaux is my Wine,
A Grape of happy Year, tho' common Vine;
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And You may drink worse Claret for Morgeux.
Then cask'd, when Dorset twice Hibernia grac'd;
One Year, 'tis true, wou'd meliorate the Taste.
But must my Pleasure be the while withstood?
No! on those Terms no Vintage cou'd be good.
Hoard You a better Race? (If Ought You hoard!)
Inrich with Leave my undissenting Board.
Be Twelve, with peremptory Flask, supply'd;
Or rest content with Such as I provide.
My House new Splendor and new Grace assumes;
Due Praise to Harry's Hands, and Sally's Brooms!
For You, Gems, Medals They conceal from View;
And Rheams of Prose and Verse exclude for You.
Then quit, for Half a Day, the Legal Claim!
The fond Pursuit of Int'rest and of Fame!
End the long Plea, which, else, admits no End!
The Toil for Gain, which, yet, You know to spend!
Bind down yon Heap of Breeves in Rubric Lace!
And give up Mopsus' still-reviving Case!
Inrich with Leave my undissenting Board.
Be Twelve, with peremptory Flask, supply'd;
Or rest content with Such as I provide.
My House new Splendor and new Grace assumes;
Due Praise to Harry's Hands, and Sally's Brooms!
For You, Gems, Medals They conceal from View;
And Rheams of Prose and Verse exclude for You.
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The fond Pursuit of Int'rest and of Fame!
End the long Plea, which, else, admits no End!
The Toil for Gain, which, yet, You know to spend!
Bind down yon Heap of Breeves in Rubric Lace!
And give up Mopsus' still-reviving Case!
To-morrow We commemorate Great Nassau;
Sacred the Day to every Court of Law.
Then, first with Me, the Night in Vigil keep;
The silenc'd Bar admits a Length of Sleep.
Indulge this Avocation without Crime;
No Client shall lament thy Loss of Time.
Short are the Summer Hours; but those prolong,
In Ease, in Talk, in Laughter, and in Song.
If yet They fly Us, tho' We court their Stay,
Pass by the Night, and borrow from the Day.
Sacred the Day to every Court of Law.
Then, first with Me, the Night in Vigil keep;
The silenc'd Bar admits a Length of Sleep.
Indulge this Avocation without Crime;
No Client shall lament thy Loss of Time.
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In Ease, in Talk, in Laughter, and in Song.
If yet They fly Us, tho' We court their Stay,
Pass by the Night, and borrow from the Day.
What Good to Me my Fortune smooth and round,
Dock'd tho' It came by many a thousand Pound;
Shou'd worldly Wisdom interdict the Use,
Till Int'rest the Deficiency produce?
Mad is the Man, or next to Mad, that spares,
That lives a Wretch to gratify his Heirs.
If, on the Change, this Doctrine will not hold,
Where Good is us'd synonymous for Gold;
Let all the Close of Hand, of Heart the Sad,
Return the Censure, and pronounce Me Mad.
The pleasing Phrenzy, ye unhappy Sage,
I court and own; Be Witness to my Rage.
Dock'd tho' It came by many a thousand Pound;
Shou'd worldly Wisdom interdict the Use,
Till Int'rest the Deficiency produce?
Mad is the Man, or next to Mad, that spares,
That lives a Wretch to gratify his Heirs.
If, on the Change, this Doctrine will not hold,
Where Good is us'd synonymous for Gold;
Let all the Close of Hand, of Heart the Sad,
Return the Censure, and pronounce Me Mad.
The pleasing Phrenzy, ye unhappy Sage,
I court and own; Be Witness to my Rage.
5
“How sweet thy Freedom in the Genial Hour?
“Divine Ebriety! How vast thy Pow'r?
“What can'st Thou not perform beyond Design?
“The Fierce You soften, and the Rude refine!
“Germanic Phlegm your sprightly Vigor warms!
“Lends, to the Coward, Heart to rush on Arms!
“You bid Ill-nature smile, Ambition rest!
“Unlock the close Recesses of the Breast!
“To Love and Amity give ampler Scope!
“To full Injoyment turn precarious Hope!
“Compose the Labor of the anxious Mind!
“Insure the Friend, sincere, the Mistress, kind!
“You ev'ry winning Art and Manner teach!
“You grace the Gesture, animate the Speech!
“The latent Seeds of modest Worth display!
“(Talents conceal'd but for thy op'ning Ray!)
“Then Minds, unknown before, We inly know;
“The Grave, the Mild, the Silent, and the Slow!
“When freed, from Forms of Fashion, Weights of Care,
“They rise in Spirit, and dilate in Air!
“'Tis Thine the Sweets of Converse to bestow!
“The Turn of Humor, and of Wit the Flow!
“The decent Confidence! The careless Grace!
“Rapture of Soul! And Harmony of Face!
“Ye copious Flasks! Fair Handmaids of the Night!
“Ye rosy Virgins! Daughters of Delight!
“Whom, give Ye not, without the Rules of Art,
“True Eloquence? The Language of the Heart?
“Whom, ease Ye not from Debt? From Prison, free?
“Whom serve ye not (like Jocelyn) without Fee?
“Divine Ebriety! How vast thy Pow'r?
“What can'st Thou not perform beyond Design?
“The Fierce You soften, and the Rude refine!
“Germanic Phlegm your sprightly Vigor warms!
“Lends, to the Coward, Heart to rush on Arms!
“You bid Ill-nature smile, Ambition rest!
“Unlock the close Recesses of the Breast!
“To Love and Amity give ampler Scope!
“To full Injoyment turn precarious Hope!
“Compose the Labor of the anxious Mind!
“Insure the Friend, sincere, the Mistress, kind!
“You ev'ry winning Art and Manner teach!
“You grace the Gesture, animate the Speech!
“The latent Seeds of modest Worth display!
“(Talents conceal'd but for thy op'ning Ray!)
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“The Grave, the Mild, the Silent, and the Slow!
“When freed, from Forms of Fashion, Weights of Care,
“They rise in Spirit, and dilate in Air!
“'Tis Thine the Sweets of Converse to bestow!
“The Turn of Humor, and of Wit the Flow!
“The decent Confidence! The careless Grace!
“Rapture of Soul! And Harmony of Face!
“Ye copious Flasks! Fair Handmaids of the Night!
“Ye rosy Virgins! Daughters of Delight!
“Whom, give Ye not, without the Rules of Art,
“True Eloquence? The Language of the Heart?
“Whom, ease Ye not from Debt? From Prison, free?
“Whom serve ye not (like Jocelyn) without Fee?
This to the Miser and Morose I say—
Carousing with the Gen'rous and the Gay;
True to the Memory, Sanguine to the Cause,
To which We owe our Liberties and Laws.
Carousing with the Gen'rous and the Gay;
True to the Memory, Sanguine to the Cause,
To which We owe our Liberties and Laws.
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Yet not too great Neglect of Order fear,
A College Course of Philosophic Cheer.
Oeconomy I hold no trivial Care,
And This becomes the Man that takes the Chair;
This! ‘Between Lux and Dirt to keep the Mean:’
Hence, tho' not Dutch my Diaper, yet clean!
No muddy Lymph from foul Decanter flows!
No sordid Napkin smells to turn your Nose!
No Dish the Finger of the Cook retains!
No dripping Glass offends with mouthy Stains!
No sullied Knife my Table shall disgrace!
But ev'ry Spoon shall miniature your Face!
A College Course of Philosophic Cheer.
Oeconomy I hold no trivial Care,
And This becomes the Man that takes the Chair;
This! ‘Between Lux and Dirt to keep the Mean:’
Hence, tho' not Dutch my Diaper, yet clean!
No muddy Lymph from foul Decanter flows!
No sordid Napkin smells to turn your Nose!
No Dish the Finger of the Cook retains!
No dripping Glass offends with mouthy Stains!
No sullied Knife my Table shall disgrace!
But ev'ry Spoon shall miniature your Face!
Yet more my Care, the Choice of Guests, attends,
Companions for Companions, Friends with Friends.
For None, not ev'n of fashionable Vice,
My Door shall enter, or shall enter Twice.
None! that exports (from Frailty or Design)
Words dropp'd in Glee of Soul, or Mirth of Wine;
In Confidence, in Sport, in Love, or Heat:
No Wretch! that falls so low as to repeat.
Here, Peers shall join, and shall be join'd with Peers.
To Courts, ye busy Tongues, and leaky Ears!
Companions for Companions, Friends with Friends.
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My Door shall enter, or shall enter Twice.
None! that exports (from Frailty or Design)
Words dropp'd in Glee of Soul, or Mirth of Wine;
In Confidence, in Sport, in Love, or Heat:
No Wretch! that falls so low as to repeat.
Here, Peers shall join, and shall be join'd with Peers.
To Courts, ye busy Tongues, and leaky Ears!
Oppos'd to Thee shall Vesey find a Place;
Vesey, whose Heart is open as his Face!
There, free from Spleen, shall sprightly Dawson sit,
And raise the Moderns, not with Modern Wit!
There Tisdal, just to blame or to commend,
With Ancient Taste the Ancients shall defend.
For charming Indolence then follows White,
As Years increase, less anxious, more polite.
Then Ussher, for delicious Humor known,
To laugh at Others Foibles and his own;
Hrim, if no prior Invitation stay
Or fairer Party draw a softer Way.
Vesey, whose Heart is open as his Face!
There, free from Spleen, shall sprightly Dawson sit,
And raise the Moderns, not with Modern Wit!
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With Ancient Taste the Ancients shall defend.
For charming Indolence then follows White,
As Years increase, less anxious, more polite.
Then Ussher, for delicious Humor known,
To laugh at Others Foibles and his own;
Hrim, if no prior Invitation stay
Or fairer Party draw a softer Way.
Still is there Room for Friends not less in Mind;
But the learn'd Elbow hates to be confin'd.
Yet, if your Choice a larger Circle claims,
Return in Time their Numbers and their Names!
Bring whom You will; no Stranger need They fear;
Nor can a Friend of Yours be Stranger, Here!
Then quit, each Private and each Public Call;
What Suitors or what Clients crowd your Hall;
From out the Postern Gate the Concourse shun;
And fly a Fee, as Others fly a Dun.
But the learn'd Elbow hates to be confin'd.
Yet, if your Choice a larger Circle claims,
Return in Time their Numbers and their Names!
Bring whom You will; no Stranger need They fear;
Nor can a Friend of Yours be Stranger, Here!
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What Suitors or what Clients crowd your Hall;
From out the Postern Gate the Concourse shun;
And fly a Fee, as Others fly a Dun.
FINIS.
| The fifth Epistle of the first Book of Horace imitated | |