English

FABLE XLVIII

A G ARD'NER , of peculiar taste,
On a young Hog his favour plac'd,
Who fed not with the common herd,
His tray was to the hall prefer'd,
He wallow'd underneath the board,
Or in his master's chamber snor'd,
Who fondly stroak'd him ev'ry day,
And taught him all the puppy's play:
Where'er he went, the grunting friend
Ne'er fail'd his pleasure to attend.
As on a time, the loving pair
Walk'd forth to tend the garden's care,

FABLE XLVII

Death , on a solemn night of state,
In all his pomp of terrors sate:
Th' attendants of his gloomy reign,
Diseases dire, a ghastly train,
Croud the vast court. With hollow tone
A voice thus thunder'd from the throne.
This night our minister we name,
Let ev'ry servant speak his claim;
Merit shall bear this eban wand.
All, at the word, stretch'd forth their hand.
Feaver, with burning heat possest,

FABLE XLVI.

The lad, of all-sufficient merit,
With modesty ne'er damps his spirit,
Presuming on his own deserts,
On all alike his tongue exerts;
His noisy jokes at random throws,
And pertly spatters friends and foes;
In wit and war the bully race
Contribute to their own disgrace:
Too late the forward youth shall find
That jokes are sometimes paid in kind,
Or if they canker in the breast,
He makes a foe who makes a jest.

FABLE XLV.

T HATE the man who builds his name
On ruins of another's fame.
Thus prudes by characters o'erthrown
Imagine that they raise their own;
Thus scriblers, covetous of praise,
Think slander can transplant the bays.
Beauties and bards have equal pride,
With both all rivals are decry'd.
Who praises Lesbia 's eyes and feature,
Must call her sister, aukward creature;
For the kind flatt'ry 's sure to charm,
When we some other nymph disarm.

FABLE XLIV.

I MPERTINENCE at first is born
With heedless slight, or smiles of scorn;
Teaz'd into wrath, what patience bears
The noisy fool who perseveres?

The morning wakes, the huntsman sounds,
At once rush forth the joyful hounds;
They seek the wood with eager pace,
Through bush, through brier explore the chase;
Now scatter'd wide, they try the plain,
And snuff the dewy turf in vain.
What care, what industry, what pains!

FABLE XLIII.

Upon a time a neighing steed,
Who graz'd among a num'rous breed,
With mutiny had fir'd the train,
And spread dissention through the plain.
On matters that concern'd the State
The council met in grand debate.
A colt, whose eye-balls flam'd with ire,
Elate with strength and youthful fire,
In haste stept forth before the rest,
And thus the list'ning throng addrest,
Good Gods! how abject is our race,
Condemn'd to slav'ry and disgrace!

FABLE XLII.

A Juggler long through all the town
Had rais'd his fortune and renown;
You'd think (so far his art transcends)
The devil at his fingers' ends.
Vice heard his fame, she read his bill;
Convinc'd of his inferior skill,
She sought his booth, and from the croud
Defy'd the man of art aloud.
Is this then he so famed for slight,
Can this slow bungler cheat your sight,
Dares he with me dispute the prize?

FABLE XLI.

An Owl of grave deport and mien,
Who (like the Turk ) was seldom seen,
Within a barn had chose his station,
As fit for prey and contemplation:
Upon a beam aloft he sits,
And nods, and seems to think, by fits.
So have I seen a man of news
Or Post-boy , or Gazette peruse,
Smoak, nod, and talk with voice profound,
And fix the fate of Europe round.
Sheaves pil'd on sheaves hid all the floor:
At dawn of morn to view his store
The Farmer came. The hooting guest

FABLE XL.

The learned, full of inward pride,
The fops of outward show deride;
The fop, with learning at defiance,
Scoffs at the pedant and the science:
The Don , a formal, solemn strutter,
Despises Monsieur 's airs and flutter;
While Monsieur mocks the formal fool,
Who looks, and speaks, and walks by rule.
Britain , a medly of the twain,
As pert as France , as grave as Spain ,
In fancy wiser than the rest,
Laughs at them both, of both the jest.
Is not the poet's chiming close

FABLE XXXIX.

The Man to Jove his suit preferr'd;
He begg'd a wife; his prayer was heard.
Jove wonder'd at his bold addressing.
For how precarious is the blessing!
A wife he takes. And now for heirs
Again he worries heav'n with prayers.
Jove nods assent. Two hopeful boys
And a fine girle reward his joys.
Now more solicitous he grew,
And set their future lives in view;
He saw that all respect and duty