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EPISTLE I

To Lord BOLINGBROKE.

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ST. JOHN, whofe love indulg'd my labours paft, Matures my prefent, and shall bound my last! Why will you break the Sabbath of my days ?. Now fick alike of Envy and of Praife. Public too long, ah let me hide my Age! See modest Cibber now has left the Stage; Our Gen'rals now, retir'd to their Eftates, Hang their old Trophies o'er the Garden gates, In Life's cool Ev'ning fatiate of Applaufe, Nor e fond of bleeding, ev'n in BRUNSWICK's caufe. f A voice there is, that whispers in my ear, ('Tis Reason's voice, which sometimes one can hear) "Friend Pope! be prudent, let your Mufe take "breath,

"And never gallop Pegasus to death;

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EPISTOLA

I.

PRIMA dicte mihi, fumma dicende camena,

Spectatum fatis, et donatum jam rude, quaeris,

Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo.
Non eadem eft aetas, non mens. ‹ Veianius, armis
d Herculis ad poftem fixis, latet abditus agro;
Ne populum e extrema toties exoret arena.

↑ Eft mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem ; Solve fenefcentem mature fanus equum, ne

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"Left ftiff, and ftately, void of fire or force, "You limp, like Blackmore on a Lord Mayor's horfe." Farewell then Verfe, and Love, and ev'ry Toy, The Rhymes and Rattles of the Man or Boy; What right, what true, what fit we justly call, Let this be all my care-for this is All:

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To lay this harvest up, and hoard with hafte,
What ev'ry day will want, and moft, the last.

But afk not, to what Doctors I apply?

Sworn to no Mafter, of no Sect am I ;
As drives the m ftorm, at any door I knock :

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And house with Montagne now, or now with Locke.
Sometimes an Patriot, active in debate,

Mix with the World, and battle for the State,
Free as young Lyttelton, her caufe pursue,
Still true to Virtue, and as warm as true:
Sometimes with Ariftippus, or St. Paul,
Indulge my candor, and grow all to all;

Peccet ad extremum ridendus, et ilia ducat.
Nunc itaque et

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verfus, et caetera ludicra pono: Quid i verum atque decens, curo et rogo, et omnis in

hoc fum:

* Condo, et compono, quae mox depromere poffim. Ac ne forte roges, 'quo me duce, quo Lare tuter : Nullius addictus jurare in verba magiftri,

Quo me cunque rapit tempeftas, deferor hofpes. Nunc agilis fio, et merfor " civilibus undis, Virtutis verae cuftos, rigidufque fatelles:

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NOTE S.

VER. 16. You limp, like Blackmore on a Lord Mayor's horfe. I The fame of this heavy poet, however problematical elsewhere, was univerfally received in the City of London. His verfification is here exactly described; ftiff, and not ftrong; ftately and yet dull, like the fober and flow-paced Animal generally employed to mount the Lord Mayor; and therefore here humorously opposed to Pegafus.

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Back to my native Moderation flide,

And win my way by yielding to the tide.

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Long, as to him who works for debt, the day, 35 Long as the Night to her whofe Love's away, Long as the Year's dull circle feems to run, When the brisk Minor pants for twenty-one ; So flow th' unprofitable moments roll, That lock up all the Functions of my foul; That keep me from myfelf; and ftill delay Life's inftant business to a future day: That task, which as we follow, or despise, The eldest is a fool, the youngest wise : Which done, the poorest can no wants endure; And which not done, the richest must be poor. Late as it is, I put myfelf to fchool,

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And feel fome comfort, not to be a fool.

w Weak tho' I am of limb, and short of fight, Far from a Lynx, and not a Giant quite ;

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Nunc in Ariftippi P furtim praecepta relabor,.
Et mihi res, non me rebus, fubjungere conor.
9 Ut nox longa, quibus mentitur amica; diesque
Lenta videtur opus debentibus: : ut piger annus
Pupillis, quos dura premit cuftodia matrum :
Sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae fpem
Confiliumque morantur agendi gnaviter id, quod
Aeque pauperibus prodeft, locupletibus aeque,

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Aeque neglectum pueris fenibufque nocebit.

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* Reftat, ut his ego me ipfe regam " folerque elementis w Non poffis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus ; Non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungi : Nec, quia defperes invicti membra Glyconis,

* Omnis Ariftippum decuft color, et status, et res..

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