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The political and occasional poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed

Edited, with notes, by Sir George Young
Praed, Winthrop Mackworth (1802-1839)

collapse sectionI. 
Part I.
 I. 
I. A FREE TRANSLATION OF A LETTER FROM PRINCE HILT TO A FRIEND AT PARIS.
 II. 
II. CHANCERY MORALS.
 III. 
III. LETTERS TO ILLUSTRIOUS CHARACTERS.
 IV. 
IV. LETTERS TO ILLUSTRIOUS CHARACTERS.
 V. 
V. LOVE'S ETERNITY.
 VI. 
VI. A SONG OF IMPOSSIBILITIES.
 VII. 
VII. ODE TO THE CHANCELLOR.
 VIII. 
VIII. WISDOM OF THE GREAT COUNCIL. I.
 IX. 
IX. WISDOM OF THE GREAT COUNCIL. II.
 X. 
X. THE LAY OF THE CHEESE.
 XI. 
XI. ROYAL EDUCATION.
 XII. 
XII. THE CORONATION OF CHARLES X.
 XIII. 
XIII. THE CORONATION OF CHARLES X.
 XIV. 
XIV. THE LONDON UNIVERSITY.
 XV. 
XV. AN EPITAPH ON THE LATE KING OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
 XVII. 
XVII. THE CHAUNTS OF THE BRAZEN HEAD. II.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. THE CHAUNTS OF THE BRAZEN HEAD. III.
 XX. 
XX. THE DEATH OF CANNING.
 XXI. 
XXI. THE RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX.
 XXII. 
XXII. THE OUTS.
 XXIII. 
XXIII. THE RETROSPECT.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. BIGOTRY'S REMONSTRANCE.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. WATERLOO.
 XXVII. 
XXVII. MARS DISARMED BY LOVE.
collapse sectionII. 
Part II.
 I. 
I. THE NEW ORDER OF THINGS.
 II. 
II. THE CONVERT.
 III. 
III. ODE TO POPULARITY.
 IV. 
IV. THE COMPLAINT OF LIBERTY.
 V. 
V. WHY AND WHEREFORE.
 VI. 
VI. KING ALFRED'S BOOK.
 VII. 
VII. INTENTIONS.
 VIII. 
VIII. THE BEGGAR'S PETITION.
 IX. 
IX. SPEECH OF THE IRISH SECRETARY IN DEFENCE OF THE LORD LIEUTENANT.
 X. 
X. SPEECH DELIVERED BY A WORTHY ALDERMAN, SEVERAL TIMES, IN COMMITTEE ON THE REFORM BILL.
 XI. 
XI. THE BILL, THE WHOLE BILL, AND NOTHING BUT THE BILL.
 XII. 
XII. REASONS FOR NOT RATTING.
 XIII. 
XIII. THE OLD TORY.
 XIV. 
XIV. THE YOUNG WHIG.
 XV. 
XV. ODE ADDRESSED TO THE RT. HON. POULETT THOMSON, ON HIS DISCOVERY OF THE FRUCTIFYING PRINCIPLE.
 XVI. 
XVI. THE DREAM OF A REPORTER.
 XVII. 
XVII. THE NEW LIGHT.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. LONG AGO.
 XIX. 
XIX. PLUS DE POLITIQUE.
 XX. 
XX. THE MAGIC BENCH.
 XXI. 
XXI. PLEDGES.
 XXII. 
XXII. HUME TRANSLATED.
 XXIII. 
XXIII. THE OLD SOLDIER.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. A CABINET CAROL.
 XXV. 
XXV. STANZAS.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. AN EPISTLE
 XXVII. 
XXVII. THE BEGGAR'S THANKS.
 XXVIII. 
XXVIII. A NURSERY SONG.
 XXIX. 
XXIX. STANZAS
 XXX. 
XXX. PATRIOT AND PLACEMAN.
 XXXI. 
XXXI. WHISTLE.
 XXXII. 
XXXII. THE ADIEUS OF WESTMINSTER.
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII. THIRTY-TWO AND THIRTY-THREE.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. THE WASHING OF THE BLACKAMOOR.
 XXXV. 
XXXV. MR. LITTLETON'S FRIENDSHIP.
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI. THE REMONSTRANCE.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII. THE RUSSELL MELODIES.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII. THE RUSSELL MELODIES.
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX. THE RUSSELL MELODIES.
 XL. 
XL. THE RUSSELL MELODIES.
 XLI. 
XLI. THE RUSSELL MELODIES.
 XLII. 
XLII. THE RUSSELL MELODIES.
 XLIII. 
XLIII. MAXIMS.
 XLIV. 
XLIV. THE SONG OF THE NURSE.
 XLV. 
XLV. THE STATE OF THE NATION.
 XLVI. 
XLVI. A MEMBER'S MUSINGS.
 XLVII. 
XLVII. COUNSELS OF A FATHER TO HIS SON.
 XLVIII. 
XLVIII. THE WHISPERS OF THE RUE RIVOLI.
 XLIX. 
XLIX. THE FALSE REPORT.
 L. 
L. A FAMILIAR EPISTLE.
 LI. 
LI. COLLOQUIES OF THE CANONGATE.
 LII. 
LII. THE LATE RESIGNATIONS.
 LIII. 
LIII. THE SONG OF THE BELLS.
collapse sectionIII. 
Part III.
 I. 
I THE CONTESTED ELECTION.
 II. 
II. THE POLITICAL DRAWING-ROOM.
 III. 
III. THE TREASURY BENCH.

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81

XVIII. THE CHAUNTS OF THE BRAZEN HEAD. III.

The world pursues the very track
Which it pursued at its creation;
And mortals shrink in horror back
From any hint of innovation;
From year to year the children do
Exactly what their sires have done;
Time is—Time was—there's nothing new—
There's nothing new beneath the sun!
Still lovers hope to be believed,
Still clients hope to win their causes;
Still plays and farces are received
With most encouraging applauses;
82

Still dancers have fantastic toes,
Still dandies shudder at a dun;
Still diners have their fricandeaus—
There's nothing new beneath the sun.
Still cooks torment the hapless eels,
Still boys torment the dumb cockchafers;
Lord Eldon still adores the seals,
Lord Clifford still adores the wafers;
Still asses have enormous ears,
Still gambling bets are lost and won;
Still opera dancers marry peers—
There's nothing new beneath the sun.
Still women are absurdly weak,
Still infants dote upon a rattle;
Still Mr. Martin cannot speak
Of anything but beaten cattle;
Still brokers swear the shares will rise,
Still Cockneys boast of Manton's gun;
Still listeners swallow monstrous lies—
There's nothing new beneath the sun.
Still genius is a jest to Earls,
Still honesty is down to zero;
Still heroines have spontaneous curls,
Still novels have a handsome hero;
83

Still Madame Vestris plays a man,
Still fools adore her—I for one;
Still youths write sonnets to a fan—
There's nothing new beneath the sun.
Still people make a plaguy fuss
About all things that don't concern them,
As if it matters aught to us
What happens to our grandsons, burn them!
Still life is nothing to the dead;
Still Folly's toil is Wisdom's fun;
And still, except the Brazen Head,
There's nothing new beneath the sun.
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