 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
175
The SWINE and ERMINE.
A Fable.
“Thou filthy beast, thou worse then vermine,
(Thus to a Swine exclaims an Ermine)
Avaunt—at proper distance know
The diff'rence 'twixt a Clown and Beau:
A Swine! There is not in all Nature
So dirty, underbred a creature:
How can mankind such neighbours bear?
You poison and pollute the air.”
(Thus to a Swine exclaims an Ermine)
Avaunt—at proper distance know
The diff'rence 'twixt a Clown and Beau:
A Swine! There is not in all Nature
So dirty, underbred a creature:
How can mankind such neighbours bear?
You poison and pollute the air.”
“Thou gawdy Trifle”—with disdain
Retorts the Swine, “thy pride refrain;
Such finnikin spruce Things as you
With just contempt and scorn I view:
Let Man our diff'rent worth decide,
His judgment soon shall quell your pride;
We and our numerous tasteful breed,
Thousands and thousands daily feed:
And what to Man's more quicken'd sense
Wou'd otherwise give great offence,
By Us of coarser palates taken
As food, becomes good pork and bacon:
Concocted thro' our chymic veins,
It yields both nourishment and gains;
And ev'ry swine may boast, good Sir,
He's Nature's useful Scavanger:
The holy Priest will take our part,
Sir Hugh loves tithe-pig from his heart;—
Riches we give and sustenance,
While all your boasted excellence
Is—with that worthless skin of thine,
To make your brother Coxcombs shine.”
Retorts the Swine, “thy pride refrain;
Such finnikin spruce Things as you
With just contempt and scorn I view:
Let Man our diff'rent worth decide,
His judgment soon shall quell your pride;
We and our numerous tasteful breed,
Thousands and thousands daily feed:
And what to Man's more quicken'd sense
Wou'd otherwise give great offence,
By Us of coarser palates taken
As food, becomes good pork and bacon:
Concocted thro' our chymic veins,
It yields both nourishment and gains;
And ev'ry swine may boast, good Sir,
He's Nature's useful Scavanger:
The holy Priest will take our part,
Sir Hugh loves tithe-pig from his heart;—
176
While all your boasted excellence
Is—with that worthless skin of thine,
To make your brother Coxcombs shine.”
Judge not of worth by splendid show,
A Clown's more useful than a Beau.
A Clown's more useful than a Beau.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |