Stultifera Navis or, The Modern Ship of Fools [by S. W. H. Ireland] |
 |
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. | SECTION III.
OF OLD FOOLS—VIZ. THE LONGER THEY LIVE
THE MORE THEY ARE GIVEN TO FOLLY. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. |
| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXII. |
| XXXIII. |
| XXXIV. |
| XXXV. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
| XLIII. |
| XLIV. |
| XLV. |
| XLVI. |
| XLVII. |
| XLVIII. |
| XLIX. |
| L. |
| LI. |
| LII. |
| LIII. |
| LIV. |
| LV. |
| LVI. |
| LVII. |
| LVIII. |
| LIX. |
| LX. |
| LXI. |
| LXII. |
| LXIII. |
| LXIV. |
| LXV. |
| LXVI. |
 | Stultifera Navis |  |
SECTION III. OF OLD FOOLS—VIZ. THE LONGER THEY LIVE THE MORE THEY ARE GIVEN TO FOLLY.
Thy frozen blood, thy visage old,
Thy reason still is mute:
'Tis not the infancy of age
That lulls thy sense—'tis still the rage
To wear the youthful suit.
By thee contemn'd, are shorn away,
In flaxen tresses 'ray'd ;
Thy wither'd frame in foppery
Through Bond Street oft parade.
To check th' imprudence of the young,
Thyself more fool than they;
Experience having knock'd in vain
To gain admittance to thy brain,
Obscur'd is wisdom's ray.
For thee respect is e'en deny'd;
From sentiment exempt;
When gone, no tongue laments thine end,
Thy passing knell's—Contempt .
L'ENVOY OF THE POET.
The hoaryhead, with wisdom's radiance crown'd,Lives to inculcate what experience taught;
In death bequeathing this bright truth profound,
I liv'd to learn—left others wisdom fraught.
THE POET'S CHORUS TO FOOLS.
Come trim the boat, row on each Rara Avis,Crowds flock to man my Stultifera Navis.
Every reader must allow the justice of these remarks of the poet, for even the most casual observer cannot saunter down Bond Street in the fashionable season, without witnessing living objects of this cast, whose grey hairs, the insignias of age, and the ensurers of respect, are shaven off; while in their place is substituted a curly boyish wig, accompanied with the extravagant livery of the latest fashion, and gouty feet wedged into thin dress pumps, which, notwithstanding their natty appearance, convince the wearer at every step, by the acuteness of the twinge endured, that the guise of youth does not become him. Yet, all in vain, he bids defiance to advice, nor heeds the poet who exclaims,
It is most assuredly a matter of serious regret, that the vain folly of old persons is far more detrimental to the rising generation than to themselves. With what degree of confidence, let me ask, can the preceptor and instructor produce as an example, such a father to the pupil he is tutoring? If his lessons are correct, they must inevitably hold up the parent in a contemptable and debased point of view; and if, on the other hand, he vin dicates the follies of the father, he extends the fostering hand to vice, and thus willingly contaminates the mind which he was imperiously called upon to rear in the paths of science, virtue, and honour.
| Stultifera Navis | |