The poems and literary prose of Alexander Wilson ... for the first time fully collected and compared with the original and early editions ... edited ... by the Rev. Alexander B. Grosart ... with portrait, illustrations, &c |
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TO MR. ---
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 | The poems and literary prose of Alexander Wilson |  |
TO MR. ---
WITH A SATIRICAL POEM.
When curst Oppression rears his brazen crest,
Withholds one half, and strains to seize the rest;
When those in pow'r disdaining shame or dread,
Half starve those wretches they pretend to feed;
Then should the Muse, with honest zeal inspir'd,
With hate of guilt and vile injustice fir'd;
Disclose their crimes, and to the world display
The gloomy catalogue in deep array;
Till Vice confounded, hides her haggard head,
And lovely Virtue rises in her stead.
Withholds one half, and strains to seize the rest;
When those in pow'r disdaining shame or dread,
Half starve those wretches they pretend to feed;
Then should the Muse, with honest zeal inspir'd,
With hate of guilt and vile injustice fir'd;
Disclose their crimes, and to the world display
The gloomy catalogue in deep array;
Till Vice confounded, hides her haggard head,
And lovely Virtue rises in her stead.
Receive th'enclosed, nor blame the daring strains,
Since truth confirms each period it contains;
And poor Experience, from the list'ning throng,
Sad shakes her head, and owns the honest song.
Since truth confirms each period it contains;
And poor Experience, from the list'ning throng,
Sad shakes her head, and owns the honest song.
Hard is their fate who must on knaves depend,
From whose base grip no laws can e'er defend;
Plead we for justice, then their friendships o'er,
And, as we're honest, we're employed no more.
Ah! were we blest now with a noble few,
As just, kind, generous, and humane as you;
Our trade might then maintain its former blaze,
And Envy's self be dumb, or whisper praise.
From whose base grip no laws can e'er defend;
Plead we for justice, then their friendships o'er,
And, as we're honest, we're employed no more.
Ah! were we blest now with a noble few,
As just, kind, generous, and humane as you;
Our trade might then maintain its former blaze,
And Envy's self be dumb, or whisper praise.
Sweet is the joy, the bliss that toils afford,
When love unites the servant and his lord;
One common interest then the task appears,
And smiles and looks, the longest labour cheers.
When love unites the servant and his lord;
One common interest then the task appears,
And smiles and looks, the longest labour cheers.
250
Cheats may deceive and growling tyrants swear,
Those claim our scorn and these provoke our fear;
But they who rise superior to such arts,
Possess like you our friendship and our hearts.
Those claim our scorn and these provoke our fear;
But they who rise superior to such arts,
Possess like you our friendship and our hearts.
| The poems and literary prose of Alexander Wilson | |