Thus may you draw with ease your breath, Deluding, what you dread not, death; Thus may you laugh, look clear, and thrive, Enrich'd by those whom you survive. May dying friends, with one accord, Worth and Sincerity reward.
you, dear Doctor, sav'd my life,
By turns to bless and curse my wife;
In conscience I'm oblig'd to do,
What your commands enjoin'd me to :
According then to your command,
That I should search the western land,
And send you all that I can find
Of curious things of every kind;
I've ravag'd air, earth, sea, and caverns,
Wine, women, children, tombs and taverns;
And greater rarities can shew
Than Gresham's children ever knew; Which carrier Dick shall bring you down, Next time the waggon comes to town.
First, I have drops of the same shower Which Jove in Danae's lap did pour ;
From Carthage brought, the sword I'll send
That help'd queen Dido to her end :
The snake-skin, which, you may believe,
The serpent cast who tempted Eve;_
A fig-leaf apron, 'tis the same
Which Adam wore to hide his shame;
But now wants darning; sir, beside,
The jaw by which poor Abel died;
A whetstone worn exceeding small,
Which Time hath whet his teeth withal
The pigeon stuft, which Noah sent
To tell which way the waters went-
A ring I've got of Sampson's hair,
The same which Dalilah did wear.
St. Dunstan's tongs, as story goes,
That pinch'd the Devil by the nose.
The very shaft, as all may see,
Which Cupid shot at Antony:
And, what beyond them all I prize,
A glance of Cleopatra's eyes.
Some strains of eloquence which hung,
In Roman times, on Tully's tongue;
Which long conceal'd and lost had lain,
'Till Cowper found them out again!_40
Then I've (most curious to be seen)
A scorpion's bite to cure the spleen.
As Moore cures worms in stomach bred,
I've pills cure maggots in the head;
With the receipt how you may make 'em,
To you I leave the time to take 'em.
I've got a ray of Phoebus' shine,
Found in the bottom of a mine;
A lawyer's conscience, large and clear,
Fit for a judge himself to wear.
I've choice of nostrums how to make
An oath which churchmen will not take.
In a thumb-vial you shall see,
Close-stopt, some drops of honesty :
Which, after searching kingdoms round,
At last was in a cottage found.
I ha'n't collected any care,
Of that there's plenty every where:
But, after wondrous labor spent,
I've got three grains of rich content.___ bo
It is my wish, it is my glory,
To furnish your nicknacatory:
I only beg, that when you show 'em;
You'll fairly tell to whom you owe 'em ;
Which will your future patients teach
To do, as has done, your's
WELL, this poetic itch creeps on,
Dodsley adopts you
all his own:
First Phoebe gave the luckless hint ;
Now your Epistles fiare in print;
This week, on every stall they lie
Display'd; the next beneath a pye;
Instead of purple and the coif,
Curll prints your works, and writes your life.
If Maevius scribble, 'tis to feed
A bard inspir'd by daring need: 10
But, having wherewithal to dine,
What vengeance damns thee to the Nine ?
You write to please—a task indeed!
Taste differs, just as men who read:
This loves an easy line, and that
Deems all that is not glaring, flat.
Some, wit and thought can scarce endure ; ̧
Swift is too vulgar, Pope obscure;
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