Poems on Several Occasions By J. Robertson |
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On seeing a LAW BOOK bound in uncoloured Calf, and white Edges.
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
On seeing a LAW BOOK bound in uncoloured Calf, and white Edges.
With unstain'd Edges, and in spotless Calf,A Law Book bound must make a Stoic laugh;
For in that striking emblem you may see,
Not what Law is, but what the Law should be:
A Law Book thus in the Law Livery drest,
Is like a Jesuit in a Layman's vest;
'Tis like a Strumpet cloath'd in spotless White;
'Tis like a bitter Apple, fair to sight;
'Tis like a simple Quaker, plain and neat,
That with his Yeas and Noes is sure to cheat;
'Tis like a Pirate, that false colours shews,
Or Hecla's flames conceal'd in virgin snows;
'Tis like—in short, 'tis like Dan Milton's Sin,
All fair without, but monst'rous foul within.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |