 | Poems on several occasions |  |
120
The FREEMAN and the ASS.
Hey! says the Freeman to the humble Ass,
Thou brute contemptuous, dar'st thou eat my grass?
My franchises a right to that can plead,
Therefore I much expect to be obey'd:
This instant let thy needy master know,
Or I shall wreak my wrath on, thee as foe.
Yea, let him know that one from slav'ry freed,
Forbids thee on his common more to feed.
Thou brute contemptuous, dar'st thou eat my grass?
My franchises a right to that can plead,
Therefore I much expect to be obey'd:
This instant let thy needy master know,
Or I shall wreak my wrath on, thee as foe.
Yea, let him know that one from slav'ry freed,
Forbids thee on his common more to feed.
To which the brute, in a most hideous bray,
Thus answer'd, Man leave off thy vicious plea;
By Nature I'm for drudgery design'd,
Tho' thou art free, disdain not my base kind;
Lest, while you me oppress, it comes to pass,
Others may load a Freeman like an Ass.
Thus answer'd, Man leave off thy vicious plea;
By Nature I'm for drudgery design'd,
Tho' thou art free, disdain not my base kind;
Lest, while you me oppress, it comes to pass,
Others may load a Freeman like an Ass.
| Poems on several occasions | |