And told him where they were mistaken,
And counsel'd him to save his bacon:
But (pass his politics and prose)
I never herded with his foes;
Nay, in his verses, as a friend,

I still found something to commend.
Sir, I excus'd his Nut-brown Maid,
Whate'er severer critics said:

Too far, I own, the girl was tried:
The women all were on my side.
For Alma I return'd him thanks;
I lik’d her with her little pranks :
Indeed, poor Solomon in rhyme
Was much too grave to be sublime.”
Pindar and Damon scorn transition,
So on he ran a new division;

Till, out of breath, he turn'd to spit;
(Chance often helps us more than wit).
T'other that lucky moment took,

Just nick'd the time, broke in, and spoke.
"Of all the gifts the gods afford
(If we may take old Tully's word)
The greatest is a friend; whose love
Knows how to praise, and when reprove:
From such a treasure never part,
But hang the jewel on your heart:
And, pray, sir, (it delights me) tell;
You know this author mighty well?"

"Know him! d'ye question it? Odds-fish!

Sir, does a beggar know his dish?

I lov'd him; as I told you, I
Advis'd him —” Here a stander-by
Twitch'd Damon gently by the cloke,
And thus, unwilling, silence broke;
"Damon, 'tis time we should retire :
The man you talk with is Mat Prior.
Patron thro' life, and from thy birth my friend,
Dorset to thee this fable let me send :

With Damon's lightness weigh thy solid worth:
The foil is known to set the diamond forth :
Let the feign'd tale this real moral give,
How many Damons, how few Dorsets, live!

THE FEMALE PHAETON.

THUS Kitty,1 beautiful and young,

And wild as colt untam'd,

Bespoke the fair from whence she sprung,
With little rage inflam❜d :

Inflam'd with rage at sad restraint,
Which wise mamma ordain'd;
And sorely vext to play the saint,
Whilst wit and beauty reign'd:

"Shall I thumb holy books, confin'd
With Abigails, forsaken?

1 Lady Catharine Hyde, late Duchess of Queensberry.

Kitty's for other things design'd,
Or I am much mistaken.

"Must Lady Jenny frisk about,
And visit with her cousins?

At balls must she make all the rout,
And bring home hearts by dozens?

“What has she better, pray, than I,
What hidden charms to boast,
That all mankind for her should die;
Whilst I am scarce a toast?

"Dearest mamma! for once let me,
Unchain'd, my fortune try;
I'll have my earl as well as she,1
Or know the reason why.

"I'll soon with Jenny's pride quit score,

Make all her lovers fall:

They'll grieve I was not loos'd before;

She, I was loos'd at all."

Fondness prevail'd, mamma gave way;

Kitty, at heart's desire,

Obtain❜d the chariot for a day,

And set the world on fire.

1 The Earl of Essex married Lady Jane Hyde.

THE JUDGMENT OF VENUS.

WHEN Kneller's works of various grace
Were to fair Venus shown;
The goddess spied in every face
Some features of her own.

Just so! (and pointing with her hand)

1

So shone, says she, my eyes
When from two goddesses I gain'd
An apple for a prize.

When in the glass, and river too,

My face I lately view'd,
Such was I, if the glass be true,
If true the crystal flood.

In colours of this glorious kind 2
Apelles painted me;

My hair thus flowing with the wind,
Sprung from my native sea.

Like this,3 disorder'd, wild, forlorn,
Big with ten thousand fears,
Thee, my Adonis, did I mourn,

Ev'n beautiful in tears.

1 Lady Ranelagh.

2 Lady Salisbury.

3 Lady Jane, sister to the Duke of Douglas; afterwards married to Sir John Stewart.

But, viewing Myra plac'd apart,
I fear, says she, I fear,
Apelles, that Sir Godfrey's art
Has far surpass'd thine here.

Or I, a goddess of the skies,
By Myra am outdone,

And must resign to her the prize,

The apple, which I won.

But, soon as she had Myra seen,
Majestically fair,

The sparkling eye, the look serene,
The gay and easy air;

With fiery emulation fill'd,

The wondering goddess cried,
Apelles must to Kneller yield,
Or Venus must to Hyde.

DAPHNE AND APOLLO:

IMITATED, FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF OVID'S

METAMORPHOSES.

"Nympha, precor, Penei, mane.”—

APOLLO.

ABATE, fair fugitive, abate thy speed,

Dismiss thy fears, and turn thy beauteous head;

With kind regard a panting lover view;

Less swiftly fly, less swiftly I'll pursue: