Classic Poem

Ingenious Lovel! your harmonious lays,
By meaning mine, establish your own praise.
Thus public favour, generous Caesar won,
And raising Pompey 's statues, — fix'd his own.
But tho' you find some beautys to commend,
And often lose the critic, in the friend;
Yet you arraign the Poet of neglect,
Who prais'd the pile, and not the Architect.
But to applaud the structure couches still,
An approbation of the builder's skill:
You who a Poem, I a Pile commend,
The Author's merit modestly intend.

T HE Artist's Virtues too conspicuous shine,
To need such humble eulogys as mine.
At nobler schemes he aims — The Good of Man ,
The state his care — the commonwealth his plan.
He can design a landscape, or a pile,
And with that pencil make his country smile:
Not only sketch a building for his friend,
But laws project, that building to defend:
Tho' fine the taste, fair fabrics to erect,
A Patriot is the noblest Architect.
Such best adorn the structures which they raise,
And lofty palaces proclaim their praise.
'Tis Merit only makes a happy seat,
A cavern glorious, and a cottage great.