There, in a lonely room, from bailiffs snug, The rusty grate unconscious of a fire: With beer and milk arrears (3) the frieze was scor'd, (1) [Viz. 1." Urge no healths; 2. Profane no divine ordinances; 3. Touch no state matters; 4. Reveal no secrets; 5. Pick no quarrels; 6. Make no comparisons; 7. Maintain no ill opinions; 8. Keep no bad company; 9. Encourage no vice; 10. Make no long meals; 11. Repeat no grievances; 12. Lay no wagers."] (2) ["And now imagine, after his soliloquy, the landlord to make his appearance, in order to dun him for the reckoning: "Not with that face, so servile and so gay, That welcomes every stranger that can pay, Then pulled his breeches tight, and thus began, &c." All this is taken, you see, from nature. It is a good remark of Montaigne's, that the wisest men often have friends, with whom they do not care how much they play the fool. Take my present follies as instances of regard. Poetry is a much easier, and more agreeable species of composition than prose, and could a man live by it, it were not unpleasant employment to be a poet."-Letter to his Brother. See Life, ch. viii.] SONG. (1) O memory! thou fond deceiver, And turning all the past to pain: Thou, like the world, the opprest oppressing, SONG. The wretch condemn'd with life to part, Still, still on Hope relies ; And every pang that rends the heart, Bids expectation rise.(4) (1) [From the oratorio of the Captivity, written in 1764. See p. 82, in the present volume, and Life, ch. xiv.] (2) [In the original MS., in the possession of Mr. Murray : "Hence, deceiver! most distressing, Seek the happy and the free; They who want each other blessing, Ever want a friend in thee."] (3) [Also from the oratorio of the Captivity. See p. 87.] (4) [Originally "Fatigued with life, yet loth to part, On Hope the wretch relies; And every blow that sinks the heart Bids the deluder rise. Hope, like the taper's gleaming light, In Mr. Murray's MS. the stanza runs thus: "To the last moment of his breath, "Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, Adorns and cheers our way, &c."] : Hope, like the glimmering taper's light, And still, as darker grows the night, THE DOUBLE TRANSFORMATION. A TALE.(1) Secluded from domestic strife, Such pleasures, unalloy'd with care, Her presence banish'd all his peace. (3) (1) [Printed in the volume of Essays which appeared in 1765.] "Without politeness, aim'd at breeding, (3) [Here followed in the first edition: "Our alter'd parson now began To be a perfect lady's man; Made So with decorum all things carry'd ; Miss frown'd and blush'd, and then was-married. Need we expose to vulgar sight The raptures of the bridal night? The honey-moon like lightning flew ; Skill'd in no other arts was she, Made sonnets, lisp'd his sermons o'er, The allusion to the "bailiffs pump'd" applies to an incident in the Poet's own college career. See Life, ch. iii.] (1) [" And though she felt his visage rough." Orig.-] "Tis true she dress'd with modern grace, Half naked at a ball or race; But when at home, at board or bed, Five greasy night-caps wrapp'd her head. To be a dull domestic friend? In short, by night, 'twas fits or fretting; Jack suck'd his pipe, and often broke While all their hours were pass'd between Thus as her faults each day were known, Or thins her lip, or points her nose: How wide her mouth, how wild her eyes! He knows not how, but so it is, Her face is grown a knowing phiz; And, though her fops are wond'rous civil, He thinks her ugly as the devil. Now to perplex the ravell'd nooze, As each a different way pursues, (1) ["Now tawdry madam kept a bevy."Orig.-] (2) ["She in her turn became perplexing, And found substantial bliss in vexing."-Ib.] |