ON A MISER.

THEY call thee rich-I deem thee poor,
Since, if thou dar'st not use thy store,
But sav'st it only for thine heirs,
The treasure is not thine, but theirs.

ANOTHER.

A MISER, traversing his house,
Espied, unusual there, a mouse,
And thus his uninvited guest,
Briskly inquisitive address'd:

"Tell me, my dear, to what cause is it
I owe this unexpected visit?"

The mouse her host obliquely oy'd,
And smiling, pleasantly replied,

"Fear not, good fellow, for your hoard'
I come to lodge, and not to board."

ANOTHER.

ART thou some individual of a kind Long-liv'd by nature as the rook or hind?

Heap treasure then, for if thy need be such,

Thou hast excuse, and scarce canst heap too much.

But man thou seem'st, clear therefore from thy breast This lust of treasure-folly at the best!

For why shouldst thou go wasted to the tomb,

To fatten with thy spoils thou know'st not whom'

RICH, thou hadst many lovers-poor hast none,
So surely want extinguishes the flame;
And she who call'd thee once her pretty one,
And her Adonis, now inquires thy name.

Where wast thou born, Sosicrates, and where
In what strange country can thy parents live,
Who seem'st, by thy complaints, not yet aware
That want's a crime no woman can forgive?

ON

THE GRASSHOPPER.

HAPPY Songster, perch'd above,
On the summit of the grove,
Whom a dew drop cheers to sing,
With the freedom of a king.
From thy perch survey the fields
Where prolifick nature yields
Nought, that, willingly as she,
Man surrenders not to thee.
For hostility or hate,

None thy pleasures can create

Thee it satisfies to sing
Sweetly the return of spring,
Herald of the genial hours,

Harming neither herbs nor flow'rs.

'Therefore man thy voice attends

Gladly, thou and he are friends;

Nor thy never ceasing strains
Phœbus or the muse disdains
As too simple or too long,
For themselves inspire the song.
Earth-born, bloodless, undecaying,
Ever singing, sporting, playing,
What has nature else to show
Godlike in his kind as thou?

ON HERMOCRATIA.

HERMOCRATIA nam'd- -save only oneTwice fifteen births I bore, and buried none: For neither Phoebus pierc'd my thriving joys, Nor Dian- -she my girls, or he my boys, But Dian rather, when my daughters lay In parturition, chas'd their pangs away, And all my sons, by Phœbus' bounty shar'd A vig'rous youth, by sickness unimpair'd. O Niobe! far less prolifick! see Thy boast against Latona sham'd by me

FROM MENANDER.

FOND youth! who dream'st, that hoarded gold

Is needful, not alone to pay

For all thy various items sold,

To serve the wants of every day;

Bread, vinegar and oil, and meat,
For sav'ry viands season'd high;

But somewhat more important yet--
I tell thee what it cannot buy.

No treasure, hadst thou more amass'd,
Than fame to Tantalus assign'd,
Would save thee from a tomb at last,
But thou must leave it all behind.

I give thee, therefore, counsel wise
Confide not vainly in thy store,
However large-
-much less despise

Others comparatively poor;

But in thy more exalted state

A just and equal temper show,

That all who see thee rich and great
May deem thee worthy to be so.

I

ON

凛

PALLAS, BATHING.

FROM A HYMN OF CALLIMACHUS.

NOR oils of balmy scent produce,

Nor mirror for Minerva's use,

Ye nymphs who lave her; she, array'd as
In genuine beauty scorns their aid. 7!
Not even when they left the skies
To seek on Ida's head the prize PRO
From Paris' hand, did Juno deign,
Or Pallas in the crystal plain

Of Simois' stream her locks to trace,
Or in the mirror's polish'd face,
Though Venus oft with anxious care
Adjusted twice a single hair.

VOL. III.

26

TO DEMOSTHENES.

Ir flatters and deceives thy view,
This mirror of ill polish'd ore;
For were it just, and told thee true,
Thou wouldst consult it never more.

You give your cheeks a rosy stain,
With washes die your hair,
But paint and washes both are vain
To give a youthful air.

Those wrinkles mock your daily toil,
No labour will efface 'em,
You wear a mask of smoothest oil,
Yet still with ease we trace 'em.

An art so fruitless then forsake,

Which though you much excel in, You never can contrive to make Old Hecuba young Helen