Till sapp'd their strength, and every part unsound, And half the business of destruction done; Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand. Contented toil, and hospitable care, And kind connubial tenderness, are there; And piety with wishes plac'd above, And steady loyalty, and faithful love. And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid, Still first to fly where sensual joys invade; THANKS,my lord,for your venison,for finer or fatter Never rang'd in a forest, or smok'd in a platter; The haunch was a picture for painters to study, The fat was so white, and the lean was so ruddy ; Tho' my stomach was sharp, I could scarce help regretting, To spoil such a delicate picture by eating: I had thoughts, in my chambers to place it in view, Of the neck and the breast I had next to dispose; Lord Clare's nephew. But in parting with these I was puzzled again, when. 1 There's H-d, and C-y, and H-rth, and H-ff, But hang it-to poets who seldom can eat, An acquaintance, a friend as he call'd himself, enter'd; And he smil'd as he look'd at the venison and me. "Why whose should it be?" cried I, with a flounce: "I get these things often"-but that was a bounce; "Some lords, my acquaintance, that settle the nation, "Are pleas'd to be kind-but I hate ostentation." "If that be the case, then," cried he, very gay, "I'm glad I have taken this house in my way. "To-morrow you take a poor dinner with me; No words-I insist on't-precisely at three: "We'll have Johnson and Burke, all the wits will be "there; "My acquaintance is slight, or I'd ask my lord Clare. 66 Left alone to reflect, having emptied my shelf, And nobody with me at sea but myself.”, L Tho' I could not help thinking my gentleman hasty, Tho' clogg'd with a coxcomb, and Kitty his wife. When come to the place where we were all to dine, (A chair-lumber'd closet, just twelve feet by nine) My friend bade me welcome,but struck me quite dumb, With tidings that Johnson and Burke would not come; "For I knew it," he cry'd, “both eternally fail, "The one with his speeches, and t' other with Thrale; But no matter, I'll warrant we'll make up the party, "With two full as clever, and ten times as hearty. "The one is a Scotchman, the other a Jew, "They both of them merry, and authors like you; And, "madam," quoth he," may this bit be my poison, "A prettier dinner I never set eyes on; "Pray a slice of your liver, tho' may I be curst, "But I've eat of your tripe, till I'm ready to burst." "The tripe, quoth the Jew, with his chocolate cheek, "I could dine on this tripe seven days in a week: "I like these here dinners so pretty and small; 44 But your friend there, the doctor,eats nothing at all." "O-ho! quoth my friend, he'll come on in a trice, "He's keeping a corner for something that's nice: "There's a pasty"-" a pasty!" repeated the Jew; "I don't care if I keep a corner for't too." "What the de'il, mon, a pasty!" re-echo'd the Scot; "Tho' splitting, I'll still keep a corner for that." "We'll all keep a corner," the lady cry'd out; "We'll all keep a corner, was echo'd about." While thus we resolv'd and the pasty delay'd, With looks that quite petrified, enter'd the maid; A visage so sad, and so pale with affright, Wak'd Priain in drawing his curtains by night; But we quickly found out, for who could mistake her, That she came with some terrible news from the baker: And so it fell out, for that negligent sloven, Had shut out the pasty on shutting his oven. Sad Philomel thus-but let similes dropAnd now that I think on't the story may stop. To be plain, my good lord, it's but labor misplac'd, To send such good verses to one of your taste; You've got an odd something-a kind of discerningA relish-a taste-sicken'd over by learning; At least, it's your temper, as very well known, That you think very slightly of all that's your own: So perhaps, in your habits of thinking amiss, You may make a mistake and think slightly of this. RETALIATION.* A POEM. OF old, when Scarron his companions invited, Each guest brought his dish, and the feast was united. * Dr. Goldsmith and some of his friends occasionally dined at the St. James's Coffee-house.-One day it was pro |