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And public Repetition much I fear,

Becaufe fo 3 few can honeft Satire bear.

Take whom you pleafe, his Mind fome Paffion
And Avarice or Ambition he obeys.
[fways,
One doats on Boys, and Matrons one admires :
This likes a Silver Vafe, while That defires
Corinthian Brafs; from Climes where dawns the Day
To Regions warm'd beneath the fetting Ray,'
This wafts his Wares,and through all Dangers flies,
Like Clouds of Duft when rapid Whirlwinds rife,
To add more Wealth to his abundant Store:
All thefe hate Verfes much, the Poet more.

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Fly, fly betimes; avoid th' unmuzzled Bear!
Fly, or he'll rend you. Never does he fpare
A Friend, to vent his Jeft; and then all Eyes,
Old Women, Boys, muft read him, or he dies.'
Briefly my Answer hear. A Poet's Name,
Firft, be affur'd, I never dar'd to claim;
That Name muft juftly be to those deny'd,
Whofe Verfe, like mine, to Profe is near ally'd.
His be that Name alone, 4 whofe lofty Line
Breathes lofty Thoughts, and boafts aFlame divine.
Hence fome refufe a Poem's Name to grant
To Comedy, fince that muft furely want,
Both in the Words and Theme, the vivid Force
To Poetry effential; from Difcourfe
By Verfe alone diftinguish'd. 'Tis reply'd,
In fwelling Terms an angry Sire may chide
His fpendthrift Son, who madly will refufe
A Wife well-portion'd, and a Mistress chufe,

OF

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Or from the Tavern reel in open Day,

By Torch-light through the Streets. To this I fay, Would not Pomponius from his Father hear, Were he alive, Reproaches as fevere ?

'Tis not enough that we a Verfe compofe Of Words correct, in which, reduc'd to Profe, A Father might in Converfe vent his Rage No lefs than angry Demea on the Stage. If from the Verfes which I now indite, Or those which old Lucilius us'd to write, The Feet and ftated Measure you fhould take, And of the Words the firft the laft fhould make, Changing the Order, you would feck in vain The Poet's fcatter'd Limbs. But in this Strain, • 5 When Difcord dire the Bolts and brazen Gates "Of War had burft,' invert it as you will, The Soul of Poetry informs it ftill.

Enough of this. Some future Work fhall show If Comedies are Poems. I would know Why my fatiric Lays your Heart appall? When 6 Caprius and when Sulcius through the Hall With their long Libels ftalk, tho' conscious Fear Betrays the Thief, yet he, whofe Hands are clear And innocent of Theft, may Both defy. Though had you, 7 Byrrhus-like, to Robbery Been long addicted; an Informer's Trade I never follow'd; why are you afraid? No Book of mine on Shops or Pillars ftandsTo Sale, nor is it foil'd by vulgar Hands,

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Nor by Tigellius read. I but repeat

To Friends, who force me; not to all I meet.
Some in the crowded Forum read their Verse;
Some in the fweetly-echoing Bath rehearse,
Carelefs of Time and Place. But what you write
Pale Envy prompts; in Slander you delight.'
Will thofe fupport this Charge who know me well?
Will thofe condemn me, amongst whom I dwell?
Whoe'er can flily scoff an absent Friend,
Or, when he's flander'd, dares not to defend ;
Who, pleas'd with lawless Laughter, for the Name
Of Droll, can trifle with his Neighbour's Fame,
What he ne'er faw invent, nor hide things feen,
Of him beware! for Bafenefs lurks within.

Oft is a Table crown'd with many a Gueft,
Where one with Freedom jokes on all the reft,
Except his Hoft; nor even him he fpares,
The Heart when Truth-revealing Bacchus bares.
Though Foe to Vice, yet at his Mirth you fmile;
While if my Mufe 8 this Man, in humorous Style,
A Goat, and that a Civet-Cat fhould call,
In Me 'tis Envy, and Detraction all.

If Me tion of Petillius' Theft is made,
While you are by, you ftrait, as ufual, plead
His Caufe. I with his Friendship have been bleft
• Ev'n from his Childhood; and, at my Request,
rle did me many a Favour. I rejoice

To fe him fafe, but wonder how the Voice

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Of Juftice could acquit him.' Envy's Weed Thus fhoots unfeen, and choaks fair Friendship's But, for myself to anfwer, I declare,

With folemn Truth, no Sentence fo fevere

[Seed.

As this, my Mind, much less my Paper, stains.
But you'll not wonder if in freer Strains

I railly Vice: Since 9 thus my Sire his Son
Inftructed by Example, how to fhun.

The Shelves, on which the Diffolute were loft:
When he advis'd me how to make the most
Of all that he could leave me, he would cry,
• Mark Albius' Son! fee Barus' Mifery!
Shun their Profufion, if their Fate you
dread.'
To warn me from the Harlot's dangerous Bed,
He only would repeat Sectanus' Name:
And that I should not court the wedded Dame,
When I with lawful Pleafures might be bleft,
• Trebonius's Detection was no Jeft..

"The Grounds of Good and Evil, when you grow • To riper Years, Philofophers will show; • Enough for me, Youth's Ardour to restrain By our wife Fathers Precepts; and maintain Your Life unfully'd, and your Fame fecure, 'While you a Tutor need; when once mature "In Age you grow, you'll fafely walk alone.' Snch tender Care was by my Father shown! And that his Words due Influence might receive, Like fuch a Man, he cry'd, refpected live!"

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Then to deter me, Can you hope to claim,
By Deeds like thefe, a good and virtuous Name?
If fo, that Convict place before your Eyes,
Whom all that know, abandon and despise.'

As when a Glutton's Funeral paffes near,
Abftemious grows the Patient, chill'd with Fear ;
So from the Shame which Knavery pursues,
The tender M nd fuch Crimes with Horror views.
Thus uninfected by great Faults, I own

My Guilt in thofe of leffer Kind alone;
And fome of thefe, as I by Years improve,.
A Friend, or my own Reason, may remove :
For thus I love to commune with my Heart,
10 Repofing on my Couch; or when, apart
From Company, I rove; "Yes, That is right;
This must endear me, and my Friends delight..
How bafe was that Man's Conduct! Flaccus, fly
"From Crimes like thefe, replete with Infamy.?
Thus with close Lips; but when a vacant Hour
Tempts me to fteal into the Mufes Bower,
To Paper I commit my idle Thoughts:
This may be rank'd among my leffer Faults;
But fhould they for your Pardon plead in vain,
Iftrait will fummon to my Aid a Train
Of Bards, a numerous Race; and, like the Jews,
To draw you to our Sect, we Force will ufe.

NOTES,

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