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ULYSSES.

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

TIRESIA S.

That haughty Soul will ever keep you poor.

ULYSSE S.

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

TIRESIA S.

For Wills of rich old Dotards lie in wait;
Though fome,more fubtle, nibbling fhun the Bait,
Despair not, but ftill carry on your Flan,
And take in all the Bubbles that you can.
If, with his Betters, a rich Knave contend,
Whate'er the Cause, if Childless, stand his Friend:
Reject the jufter Side, the purer Life,

If there be Children, or a fruitful Wife :
Quintius or Publius call him; Names like thefe,
Vain, empty Coxcombs wonderfully please:
Say, Virtue of my Friendship is the Caufe;

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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.' Perfift, the greatest Hardships undergo,

2 Though Furius on the Alps fpits hoary Snow,

With

1

With out-ftretch'd Paunch, or with Autumnal

Heats

The new-made Statues raging Sirius splits.

See, a By-fander jogs him, and commends
Your Zeal, and Patience, to affift your Friends.
You, by fuch Wiles, fresh Dupes will daily get,
And Shoals of Gudgeons foon will fill your Net.
Left
you, fufpe&ted, fhould yourself betray,
If, to the Childlefs only, Court you pay,
Strive to inveigle, with officious Care,
Some rich old Man, who has a puny Heir;
This fllom fails; for if the Child fhould die,.
You may, as fecond Hcir, his Loss supply.

If a Friend offer you his Will to read,
Seem to refufe, and turn afide your Head;
But to the Bottom 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 Coranus fhall be bit.

ULYSSES.

Mere Banter, Riddles, or a frantic Fit.

TIRESIA S.

3 Whate'er I fay, or fhall, or fhall not be ; This Knowledge Phoebus has conferr'd on Me. ULYSSE S.

If lawful, what this Story means explain.

TIRESIA S.

When, from Eneas fprung, a Prince fhall reign,.

Who

Who will, o'er Sea and Land, extend his Fame,
And make the Parthian tremble at his Name;
Then 4 fhall Nafica, loth his Debts to pay,
His Daughter to Coranus yield a Prey:
Coranus fhall intreat him to perufe

His Will; Nafica fhall at first refuse,

At length comply; but fhall find nothing there,
Left to himself or Daughter, but Despair.
But to proceed; fhould 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 fubdue may answer well;
'Tis better ftill to ftorm the Citadel:
Confult is Tafte; if he love Verfes, praife
With Leftafy the Blockhead's wretched Lays:
Provent his Wifh, if he a Wencher be,
And introduce him to Penelopé.

ULYSSE S.

None fure could one so chafte, so prudent, gain, Whom to feduce the Suitors ft. ove in vain.

TIRESIA S.

5 The frugal Youths were fonder of good Cheer Than of the Dame, who held her Charms too dear: But if the Queen, whom you eftecm fo chafte, The Sweets of an Amour like this fhould tafte, And with you fhare the rich old Letcher's Gold, Sooner than fhe, 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 flippery Coarfe to bear: Alive, he always ftuck to her so close, When dead, the hop'd t' escape him, I suppose.

Great Circumfpection ufe in your Address;
Be not too sheepish, nor too forward prefs;
Nor always hold your Tongue, nor always prate;
Stiff and four Tempers the Loquacious hate :
With Head inclin'd, obfequious Homage pay,
And ftand 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 Paffage, elbow all you meet:
If talkative, attend to all he says;

And, if vain-glorious, furfeit him with Praife:
Puff the fwoln Bladder up to fuch a Size,

Till, with uplifted Hands, Hold! hold !" he cries,
When, by his Death, from Care and Bondage

free,

You, broad awake, the long-wifh'd Item fee,
"Of the fourth Part I make Ulyffes Heir;"
To hide your Joy, ftrive to fqueeze out a Tear;
Then cry, My Damas gone! I ne'er fhall find
Another Friend like him, fo true, fo kind :'
A decent Tomb, to show your Friendship, raise;
Your Neighbours the grand Funeral will praise :

Tell

Tell your Coheir, if ill and like to die,
That he your Share at his own Price fhall buy.
Adieu! Farewell!-I can no longer stay.

6 Hell's haughty Empress summons me away.

NOTE S.

I Homer, in the Odyfey, Book XI. reprefents Ulyffes as defcending into Hell from the Country of the Cimmerians, near the Island of Circe, to confult Tirefias (a celebrated Soothsayer of Thebes in Boeotia) about his future Fortune; and gives us there the Speech of Ulysses, 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 fame Place; 6 as appears,' fays he, from the Words quoque, and præter narrata, at the Beginning.'

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

It is faid, that Ulyffes muft have been in Ithaca, to ◄ know the Condition of his House and Family.'

But this Suppofition is not at all neceffary, fince the Prophet had, in his former Speech, acquainted him with thofe Circumstances.

- O nulli quicquam mentite, vides, ut

Nudus inopfque domum redeam, te vate; neque illic
Aut apotheca procis inta&ta eft, aut pecus.

This Connection will appear more clearly by inferting the Lines from Homer:

Weary of Light, Ulyffes here explores

A profperous Voyage to his native Shores; But know,-by Me th' unerring Fates difclofe 'New Trains of Dangers, and new Scenes of Woes

'Beneath the Waves

• I fee thy Friends o'erwhelm'd in liquid Graves!

The

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