ON THE SAME.

t

I.

WHEN wit and genius meet their doom
In all devouring flame,

They tell us of the fate of Rome,

And bid us fear the same.

11.

O'er MURRAY's loss the Muses wept,
They felt the rude alarm,

Yet bless'd the guardian care that kept
His sacred head from harm.

III.

There Memory, like the bee, that's fed
From Flora's balmy store,

The quintessence of all he read

Had treasured up before.

IV.

The lawless herd, with fury blind,
Have done him cruel wrong;

The flowers are gone but still we find
The honey on his tongue.

THE LOVE OF THE WORLD REPROVED;

OR

HYPOCRISY DETECTED.*

THUS says the prophet of the Turk,
Good Mussulman, abstain from pork;
There is a part in every swine
No friend or follower of mine
May taste, whate'er his inclination,
On pain of excommunication.
Such Mahomet's mysterious charge,
And thus he left the point at large.
Had he the sinful part express'd,
They might with safety eat the rest;
But for one piece they thought it hard
From the whole hog to be debarr'd;

And set their wit at work to find

What joint the prophet had in mind.
Much controversy straight arose ;

These choose the back, the belly those;

By some 'tis confidently said

He meant not to forbid the head;
While others at that doctrine rail,
And piously prefer the tail.

It may be proper to inform the reader, that this piece has already appeared in print, having found its way, though with some unnecessary additions by an unknown hand, into the Leeds Journal, without the author's privity.

Thus, conscience freed from every clog,
Mahometans eat up the hog.

You laugh 'tis well-The tale applied May make you laugh on t'other side. Renounce the world-the preacher cries. We do a multitude replies.

While one as innocent regards

A snug and friendly game at cards;
And one, whatever you may say,
Can see no evil in a play;

Some love a concert, or a race;

And others shooting and the chace.

Reviled and loved, renounced and follow'd,
Thus, bit by bit, the world is swallow'd;.
Each thinks his neighbour makes too free,
Yet likes a slice as well as he;

With sophistry their sauce they sweeten,
Till quite from tail to snout 'tis eaten.

ON THE DEATH

OF

MRS. (now LADY) THROCKMORTON'S BULFINCH.

YE nymphs! if e'er your eyes were red
With tears o'er hapless favourites shed,
O share Maria's grief!

Her favourite, even in his cage,
(What will not hunger's cruel rage?)
Assassin'd by a thief.

Where Rhenus strays his vines among,
The egg was laid from which he sprung;
And, though by nature mute,

Or only with a whistle bless'd,
Well taught, he all the sounds express'd
Of flagelet or flute.

The honours of his ebon poll

Were brighter than the sleekest mole;
His bosom of the hue

With which Aurora decks the skies,
When piping winds shall soon arise,
To sweep away the dew.

Above, below, in all the house,
Dire foe alike of bird and mouse,
No cat had leave to dwell;
And Bully's cage supported stood
On props of smoothest shaven wood,
Large built, and latticed well.

Well-latticed-but the grate, alas!
Not rough with wire of steel or brass,
For Bully's plumage sake,

But smooth with wands from Ouse's side,
With which, when neatly peel'd and dried,
The swains their baskets make.

LADY THROCKMORTON'S BULFINCH. 177
Night veil'd the pole, all seem'd secure :
When led by instinct sharp and sure,
Subsistence to provide,

A beast forth sallied on the scout,
Long-back'd, long tail'd, with whisker'd snout,

And badger-colour'd hide.

He, entering at the study door,
Its ample area 'gan explore;

And something in the wind
Conjectured, sniffing round and round,
Better than all the books he found,
Food chiefly for the mind.
Just then, by adverse fate impress'd,
A dream disturb'd poor Bully's rest;
In sleep he seem'd to view
A rat fast clinging to the cage,
And, screaming at the sad presage,
Awoke, and found it true.

For, aided both by ear and scent,
Right to his mark the monster went
Ah, muse! forbear to speak
Minute the horrors that ensued;

His teeth were strong, the cage was wood-
He left poor Bully's beak.

O had he made that too his prey;
That beak, whence issued many a lay

Of such mellifluous tone,

Might have repaid him well, I wote,
For silencing so sweet a throat,
Fast stuck within his own.
Maria weeps the Muses mourn-
So when, by Bacchanalians torn,
On Thracian Hebrus' side
The tree-enchanter Orpheus fell,
His head alone remain'd to tell

The cruel death he died.