Poems on Several Occasions ... To which is added, the Plague of Wealth, Occasion'd By the Author's receiving fifty Pounds from his Excellency the Lord Carteret, for the foremention'd Ode. With several Poems not in the Dublin Edition. By Matthew Pilkington. Revised by the Reverend Dr. Swift |
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On the Corporations riding the Franchises. 1725.
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
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On the Corporations riding the Franchises. 1725.
How shall the Muse debase her Song,
To paint a rude unpolish'd Throng,
Dull, aukward Mimics of the Great,
Snatch'd from the Counter into State?
To paint a rude unpolish'd Throng,
Dull, aukward Mimics of the Great,
Snatch'd from the Counter into State?
See—! to the Crowd the Pageant shown,
Adorn'd with Beauties not his own,
And while in borrow'd Pomp array'd,
Forgetful of himself, and Trade!
But all his Trappings laid aside,
Those gay Inflamers of his Pride,
His fancy'd Honours are no more;
He grows—as worthless as before.
Adorn'd with Beauties not his own,
And while in borrow'd Pomp array'd,
Forgetful of himself, and Trade!
But all his Trappings laid aside,
Those gay Inflamers of his Pride,
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He grows—as worthless as before.
Thus, when the Sun his Glory pours
To gild a Cloud, that teems with Show'rs,
Deckt in a beautiful Disguise,
The show'ry Cloud attracts our Eyes;
But, when the Sun withdraws the Rays,
That taught admiring Crouds to gaze,
Those Beauties fly that made it priz'd,
The Cloud remains,—remains despis'd.
To gild a Cloud, that teems with Show'rs,
Deckt in a beautiful Disguise,
The show'ry Cloud attracts our Eyes;
But, when the Sun withdraws the Rays,
That taught admiring Crouds to gaze,
Those Beauties fly that made it priz'd,
The Cloud remains,—remains despis'd.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |