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SATIRA

Q

II.

UAE virtus et quanta, boni, fit vivere parvo, (Nec meus hic fermo; fed quae praecepit Ofellus,

Rufticus, abnormis Sapiens, craffaque Minerva) Difcite, non inter lances menfafque nitentes;

e

Cum ftupet infanis acies fulgoribus, et cum
Acclinis falfis animus meliora recufat:

Verum hic impranfi mecum difquirite. Cur hoc?
Dicam, fi potero. male verum examinat omnis
Corruptus judex. Leporem fectatus, equove
Laffus ab indomito; vel (fi Romana fatigat
Militia affuetum graecari) feu pila velox,
Molliter aufterum ftudio fallente laborem;
Seu te difcus agit, pete cedentem aëra disco:
Cum labor extulerit faftidia; ficcus, inanis,
Sperne cibum vilem: nifi Hymettia mella Falerno,
Ne biberis, diluta. iforis eft promus, et atrum

NOTES.

VER. 5. a gilt Buffet's reflected pride-Turns you from found Philofophy afide;] More forcibly and happily expressed than the original acclinis falfis; tho' that be very elegant.

SATIRE II.

W

To Mr. BETHEL

HAT, and how great, the Virtue and the Art

To live on little with a chearful heart; (A doctrine fage, but truly none of mine) Let's talk, my friends, but talk before we dine.

* Not when a gilt Buffet's reflected pride
Turns you from found Philosophy aside;
Not when from plate to plate your eyeballs roll,
And the brain dances to the mantling bowl.

5

Hear BETHEL's Sermon, one not vers'd in schools, But strong in fenfe, and wife without the rules. I o h Go work, hunt, exercife! (he thus began) Then scorn a homely dinner, if you can.

ti Your wine lock'd up, your Butler stroll'd abroad, Or fish deny'd (the river yet unthaw'd)

NOTES.

VER. 9. BETHEL.] The fame to whom several of Mr. Pope's Letters are addressed.

Defendens pifces hiemat mare: cum sale panis
Latrantem ftomachum bene leniet. unde putas, aut
Quî partum? non in caro nidore voluptas
Summa, fed in teipfo eft. tu pulmentaria quaere
Sudando. pinguem vitiis albumque neque oftrea,
Nec fcarus, aut poterit peregrina juvare lagoïs.

* Vix tamen eripiam, pofito pavone, velis quin Hoc potius quam gallina tergere palatum; Corruptus vanis rerum: quia veneat auro Rara avis, et picta pandat fpectacula cauda: Tamquam ad rem attineat quidquam. Num vefceris ifta,

Quam laudas, pluma? coctove num adeft honor idem?

Carne tamen, quamvis diftat nihil hac, magis illa;
Imparibus formis deceptum te patet, efto.
Unde datum fentis, lupus hic, Tiberinus, an alto
Captus hiet? pontefne inter jactatus, an amnis
Oftia fub Tufci? 'laudas, infane, trilibrem
Mullum ; in fingula quem minuas pulmenta neceffe
est.

Ducit te fpecies, video. quo pertinet ergo

Proceros odiffe lupos? quia fcilicet illis

Majorem natura modum dedit, his breve pondus,

Jejunus raro ftomachus vulgaria temnit.

you,

If then plain bread and milk will do the feat, 15 The pleasure lies in and not the meat. *Preach as I please, I doubt our curious men Will chufe a pheasant still before a hen; Yet hens of Guinea full as good I hold, Except you eat the feathers green and gold. 20 'Of carps and mullets why prefer the great, (Tho' cut in pieces ere my Lord can eat) Yet for fmall Turbots such esteem profess? Because God made these large, the other lefs.

m Porrectum magno magnum fpe&tare catino Vellem, ait Harpyiis gula digna rapacibus. At vos, "Praesentes Austri, coquite horum opfonia: quam

quam

Putet aper rhombufque recens, mala copia quando
Aegrum follicitat ftomachum ; cum rapula plenus
Atque acidas mavult inulas. necdum omnis abacta
Pauperies epulis regum: nam vilibus ovis
Nigrifque eft oleis hodie locus. Haud ita pridem
Galloni praeconis erat acipenfere menfa
Infamis. quid? tum rhombos minus aequora alebant?
? Tutus erat rhombus, tutoque ciconia nido,
Donec vos auctor docuit praetorius. ergo
9 Si quis nunc mergos fuaves edixerit assos,
Parebit pravi docilis Romana juventus.

r

* Sordidus a tenui victus diftabit, Ofello Judice: nam fruftra vitium vitaveris iftud,

NOTES.

VER. 25. Oldfield] This eminent Glutton ran thro' a fortune of fifteen hundred pounds a year in the fimple luxury of good eating.

VER. 26. a whole Hog barbecu'd !] The Poet has here given a beauty equivalent to that in the Original,

Porrectum magno magnum fpectare catino,

which, by the flowness of the Syllables, where four spondees follow one another, well expreffes the enormous bulk of the fifh which the Glutton pray'd for.

Ibid. Hog barbecu'd, etc.] A West Indian term of gluttony,

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