ULYSSES.
I, with the First accustom'd to contend,
Shall I a Scoundrel's Side from Dirt defend?
In Arms a different Part at Troy I bore.

TIRESIAS.
That haughty Soul will ever keep you poor.

ULYSSES.
More have I borne; my Spirit I'll fubdue.
What Course then to be rich must I pursue?

TIRESIA S.
For Wills of rich old Dotards lie in wait ;
Though some,more subtle, nibbling shun the Bait,
Despair not, but still carry on your Plan,
And take in all the Bubbles that
If, with his Betters, a rich Knave contend,
Whate'er the Cause, if Childless, ftand his Friend :
Reject the juster Side, the purer Life,
If there be Children, or a fruitful Wife :
Quintius or Publius call him ; Names like these,
Vain, empty Coxcombs wonderfully please :
Say, · Virtue of my Friendship is the Cause;
• Than I, none better understand the Laws :
« I, ere the World shall you, my Friend, despise,

Or of one.Mite deprive, will lose these Eyes : • Go home, indulge, of your dear Health takeCare,

I will myself conduct the whole Affair.' Persist, the greatest Hardships undergo, 2 Though Furius on the Alps spits hoary Snow,

With

you can.

With out-stretch'd Paunch, or with Autumnal

Heats
The new-made Statues raging Sirius splits.

See, a By-fander jogs liim, and commends Your Zeal, and Patience, to aflist your Friends. You, by such Wiles, freih Dupes will daily get, And Shoals of Gudgeons scon will fill your Net.

Léit you, suspected, ihould yourself betray,
If, to the Childless only, Court you pay,
Strive to invcigle, with oficious Care,
Some rich old vian, who has a puny Heir;
This í liom fails; for if the Child thould die,
You miy, as second Hcir, his Loss supply.

If a Friend offer you his Will to read,
Seem to refuse, and turn aside your Head;
But to the Dottom glance your Eye, to see
If you fole Heir, or join’d with others, be.
A fubtle Scribe, as future Times will show,
Shall artfully delude á gaping Crow;
Nafica by Coranu?s shall be bit.

ULYSSES.
Mere Banter, Riddles, or a frantic Fit.

TIRESIAS. 3. Whate'er I say, or shall, or shall not be; This Knowledge Phæbus has conferr'd on Me.

ULYSSES.
If lawful, what this Story means explain.

TIRE SI AS.
When, from Æneas sprung, a Prince shall reign,

Who

Who will, o'er Sea and Land, cxtend his Fame,
And make the Parthian tremble at his Name;
Then 4 shall Nafica, loth his Debts to pay,
His Daughter to Coronus yield a Prey:
Coranus fall intreat him to peruse
His Will; Nasica shall at first refuse,
At length comply ; but shall find nothing there,
Left to himself or Daughter, but Despair.

But to proceed; should any of his Train
O'er the rich Dotard an Afcendant gain,
Tell them how much you are their Master's Friend;
If them you win, they you will recommend :
The Cutworks to fubciue may answer well;
'Tis briter still to storm the Citadel :
Confultis Taste; if he love Verses, praise
Wih Elftafy the blockhead's wretched Lays:
Provent his Wilh, if he a Wencher be,
And introduce him to Penelopé.

ULYSSES. None sure could one fo chaste, fo prudent, gaing Whom to seduce the Suitors it. ove in vain,

TIRESIAS. 5 The frugal Youths were fonder of good Cheer Than of the Dame, who held her Charms too dear: But if the Queen, whom y'u cíteem fo chaft, The Swects of an Amour like this should taste, And with you fare the rich old Letcher's Gold,

share Sooner than the, a Leech would quit his Hold.

At

At Thebes, a Beldam dwelt, in Times of yore,

, Who dead, with Oyl would be anointed o'er, And, on his naked Back, enjoin’d her Heir, Thus to the Grave her slippery Coarse to bear: Alive, he always stuck to her so close, When dead, she hop'd t'escape him, I suppose.

Great Circumspection use in your Address; Be not too sheepish, nor too forward press; Nor always hold your Tongue, nor always prate; Stiff and four Tempers the Loquacious hate : With Head inclin'd, obsequious Homage pay, And stand like comic Davus in the Play : Of his dear Health intreat him to take Care, And not expose it to the noxious Air : If you together walk the crowded Street, To clear his Paflage, elbow all you meet : If talkative, attend to all he says; And, if vain-glorious, surfeit him with Praise : Puff the swoln Bladder up to such a Size, Till, with uplifted Hands, Hold ! hold !'he cries, When, by his Death, from Care and Bondage

free, You, broad awake, the long-wish'd Item see, “ Of the fourth Part I make Ulysses Heir ;" To hide your Joy, strive to squeeze out a Tear; Then cry, ' My Damas gone! I ne'er shall find

Another Friend like him, so true, so kind :' A decent Tomb, to Ihow your Friendship, raise ; Your Neighbours the grand Funeral will praise :

Tell

a

Tell your

Coheir, if ill and like to die, That he

your Share at his own Price shall buy. Adieu ! Farewell !-I can no longer stay. 6 Hell's haughty Empress summons me away.

Place;

6

N O T E S. 1 Homer, in the Odyssey, Book XI, represents Vlyles as descending into Hell from the Country of the Cimmerians, near the Island of Circé, to consult lirefias (a celebrated Soothsayer of Thebes in Bæotia) about his future Fortune; and gives us there the Speech of Ulyles, and the Prophet's Answer.

This Satire is a Continuation of that Episode, and to be connected with the 148th Verse of that Book. Dacier is of Opinion, that the Scene lies in the same as appears,' says he, from the Words

quoque, and præter narrata, at the Beginning.'

Sanadon, on the other hand, supposes the Scene to lie in Ithaca; and that Ulysses, on his Arrival there, confulted the Ghost of Tiresias a second Time. But this is an arbitrary Conjecture, not warranted by any thing in this Satire.

It is said, that Ulyses must have been in Ithaca, to * know the Condition of his House and Family.'

But this Supposition is not at all necessary, since the Prophet had, in his former Speech, acquainted him with those Circumstances.

O nulli quicquam mentite, vides, ut Nudus inopsque domum redeam, te vate ; neque illic

Aut apotheca procis intacta eft, aut pecus. This Connection will appear more clearly by inserting the Lines from Homer :

• Weary of Light, Ulyles here explores • A prosperous Voyage to his native Shores; • But know, by Me th’ unerring Fates disclose New Trains of Dangers, and new Scenes of Woes

Beneath the Waves • I see thy Friends o'erwhelm'd in liquid Graves !

The

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