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VII.

EPISTLE

Iinitated in the Manner of Dr. SWIFT..

T

IS true, my Lord, I gave my word,
I would be with you, June the third;

Chang'd it to August, and (in short);
Have kept it-as you do at Court.
You humour me when I am fick,
Why not when I am splenetick?
In town, what Objects could I meet?
The shops shut up in every street,
And Funerals blackening all the Doors,

And yet more melancholy Whores:
And what a dust in every place!

And a thin Court that wants your Face,.
And Fevers raging up and down,
And W* and H** both in Town!

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Q

UINQUE dies tibi pollicitus me rure futurum,
Sextilem totum mendax defideror. atqui,

Si me vivere vis sanum recteque valentem;
Quam mihi das aegro, dabis aegrotare timenti,
Maecenas, veniam: dum ficus prima calorque
Designatorum decorat lictoribus atris:

Dum pueris omnis pater, et matercula pallet;
Officiosaque sedulitas, et opella forenfis
Adducit febres, et testamenta refignat...

L

"The dog-days are no more the cafe."

15

'Tis true, but Winter comes apace:
Then fouthward let your Bard retire,
Hold out fome Months 'twixt Sun and Fire,

And you shall fee, the first warm Weather,
Me and the Butterflies together.

My Lord, your Favours well I know;

'Tis with Distinction you bestow;

And not to every one that comes,
Just as a Scotsman does his Plums.
"Pray take them, Sir Enough 's a Feaft:

"Eat fome, and pocket up the reft"-
What, rob your Boys? thofe pretty rogues!
"No, Sir, you 'll leave them to the Hogs."
Thus Fools with Compliments befiege ye,
Contriving never to oblige ye.
Scatter your favours on a Fop,
Ingratitude 's the certain crop;

Quod fi bruma nives Albanis illinet agris;
Ad mare defcendet vates tuus, et fibi parcet,
Contractusque leget; te, dulcis amice, reviset
Cum Zephyris, fi concedes, et hirundine prima.

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25

30

And

Non, quo more pyris vefci Calaber jubet hofpes.
Tu me fecifti locupletem. Vefcere fodes.
Jam fatis eft. At tu quantumvis tolle. Benigne.
Non invisa feres pueris munufcula parvis.
Tam teneor dono, quam fi dimittar onustus.
Ut libet: haec porcis hodie comedenda relinques.
Prodigus et stultus donat quae spernit et odit:

And 'tis but just, I 'll tell you wherefore,.
You give the things you never care for.
A wife man always is or should
Be mighty ready to do good;
But makes a difference in his thought
Betwixt a Guinea and a Great.

f

Now this I 'll fay, you 'll find in me
A fafe Companion and a free;
But if you 'd have me always near-
A word, pray, in your Honour's ear.
I hope it is your Resolution
To give me back my Constitution!
The sprightly Wit, the lively Eye,
Th' engaging Smile, the Gaiety,
That laugh'd down many a Summer Sun,,
And kept you up so oft till one:

And all that voluntary Vein,

As when Belinda rais'd my Strain...

Haec seges ingratos tulit et feret omnibus annis..
Vir bonus et sapiens, dignis ait esse paratum!
Nec tamen ignorat, quid distent aera lupinis?
Dignum praeftabo me, etiam pro laude merentis..
Quod fi me noles usquam difcedere; reddes
Forte latus, nigros angufta fronte capillos:
Reddes duce loqui: reddes ridere decorum, et:
Inter vina fugam Cynarae moerere protervae.

Forte per anguftam tenuis vulpecula rimam
Repferat in cumeram frumenti: pastaque, rurfus
Ire foras pleno tendebat corpore fruftra,

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