 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
276
A FRAGMENT.
[In that strange Soil where Affectation rules]
In that strange Soil where Affectation rules,
That sickly Paradise of sick-brain'd Fools,
Where Bibliops, a num'rous clam'rous Corps,
As Scullers ply to waft you to the Shore,
Where Nurses, Beaus, and Misses eager post,
To doze away their Hours on Folly's coast,
Thither, by Fancy wing'd, quick let me fly,
To taste the Comforts of a Lullaby.
That sickly Paradise of sick-brain'd Fools,
Where Bibliops, a num'rous clam'rous Corps,
As Scullers ply to waft you to the Shore,
Where Nurses, Beaus, and Misses eager post,
To doze away their Hours on Folly's coast,
Thither, by Fancy wing'd, quick let me fly,
To taste the Comforts of a Lullaby.
Soon as you enter the enchanted Ground,
A few soft Notes from ev'ry Quarter sound,
Most delicate—most virtuous—most refin'd—
With Phrases from the Gallic Shore purloin'd,
Mellifluous Sounds, devoid of all Offence,
Join'd to a strange Vacuity of Sense,
Which from Tautology's dull Parrot Tongue
From Morn to Night are either said or sung;
The ravish'd Hearers think 'em all divine,
Yawn forth their Praises, and to Sleep incline;
Whilst Ignorance in Rainbow Colours drest,
With frothy Syllabub crams ev'ry Guest.
A few soft Notes from ev'ry Quarter sound,
Most delicate—most virtuous—most refin'd—
With Phrases from the Gallic Shore purloin'd,
Mellifluous Sounds, devoid of all Offence,
Join'd to a strange Vacuity of Sense,
Which from Tautology's dull Parrot Tongue
From Morn to Night are either said or sung;
The ravish'd Hearers think 'em all divine,
Yawn forth their Praises, and to Sleep incline;
Whilst Ignorance in Rainbow Colours drest,
With frothy Syllabub crams ev'ry Guest.
In Ribbons drest and Furbelows, the Muse
Bedizen'd like an Harlot from the Stews,
(The Muse! rather a Shade that dare assume
The Muse's Name without one heav'nly Plume)
As Maid of Honor on the Queen attends,
And to the lowest Flatt'ry condescends.
Bedizen'd like an Harlot from the Stews,
(The Muse! rather a Shade that dare assume
The Muse's Name without one heav'nly Plume)
As Maid of Honor on the Queen attends,
And to the lowest Flatt'ry condescends.
277
Of fancy'd Bards, and Grub-streets of each Class,
Is form'd a strange, an Heteroclite Mass;
Some unimpassion'd in dull florid Lays
(Soft opiate Nothings) hum their Monarch's Praise;
Others, a Novel-scribbling trifling Throng,
Strew Poppies as their Sov'reign moves along;
Whilst Music, void of Nature, proud of Art,
“Plays round the Head, but touches not the Heart.”
Is form'd a strange, an Heteroclite Mass;
Some unimpassion'd in dull florid Lays
(Soft opiate Nothings) hum their Monarch's Praise;
Others, a Novel-scribbling trifling Throng,
Strew Poppies as their Sov'reign moves along;
Whilst Music, void of Nature, proud of Art,
“Plays round the Head, but touches not the Heart.”
Within the Palace, Folly-Castle hight,
Where Truth ne'er rays her pure celestial Light,
But thro' a Rainbow Medium to the Gaze,
Her short-liv'd Visions Falshood still displays,
Of either Sex a motley Crew attend,
And at their Sov'reign's Levee constant bend;
Foremost in Rank and Favour ------ [OMITTED]
Where Truth ne'er rays her pure celestial Light,
But thro' a Rainbow Medium to the Gaze,
Her short-liv'd Visions Falshood still displays,
Of either Sex a motley Crew attend,
And at their Sov'reign's Levee constant bend;
Foremost in Rank and Favour ------ [OMITTED]
Desunt Cætera.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |