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For by repulse he bolder grew,

Perch'd on her lip, and sipt the dew.

She frowns; she frets. 'Good gods! (she cries) Protect me from these teasing flies:

Of all the plagues that Heav'n hath sent,
A Wasp is most impertinent.'

The hovering insect thus complain'd;
'Am I then slighted, scorn'd, disdain'd?
Can such offence your anger wake?
'Twas beauty caus'd the bold mistake.
Those cherry lips that breathe perfume,
That cheek so ripe with youthful bloom,
Made me with strong desire pursue
The fairest peach that ever grew.'

'Strike him not, Jenny, (Doris cries,)
Nor murder Wasps like vulgar flies;
For though he's free, (to do him right)
The creature's civil and polite.'

In ecstasies away he posts;

Where'er he came the favour boasts;
Brags how her sweetest tea he sips,
And shows the sugar on his lips.

The hint alarm'd the forward crew;
Sure of success, away they flew :
They share the dainties of the day,
Round her with airy music play:
And now they flutter, now they rest,
Now soar again, and skim her breast.
Nor were they banish'd till she found
That Wasps have stings, and felt the wound.

THE BULL AND THE MASTIFF.

SEEK you to train your favourite boy?
Each caution, every care employ;
And ere you venture to confide,
Let his preceptor's heart be tried
Weigh well his manners, life, and scope;
On these depends thy future hope.
As on a time, in peaceful reign,
A Bull enjoy'd the flowery plain,
A Mastiff pass'd; inflam'd with ire,
His eyeballs shot indignant fire;
He foam'd, he rag'd with thirst of blood.
Spurning the ground the monarch stood,
And roar'd aloud: 'Suspend the fight;
In a whole skin go sleep to-night;
Or tell me, ere the battle rage,
What wrongs provoke thee to engage?
Is it ambition fires thy breast,
Or avarice, that ne'er can rest?
From these alone unjustly springs
The world-destroying wrath of kings.'
The surly Mastiff thus returns:
'Within my bosom glory burns.
Like heroes of eternal name,
Whom poets sing, I fight for fame.

The butcher's spirit-stirring mind
To daily war my youth inclin'd;
He train❜d me to heroic deed,
Taught me to conquer or to bleed.'

'Curs'd Dog, (the Bull replied,) no more
I wonder at thy thirst of gore;
For thou (beneath a butcher train'd,
Whose hands with cruelty are stain'd,
His daily murders in thy view)

Must, like thy tutor, blood pursue.

Take, then, thy fate.' With goring wound
At once he lifts him from the ground:
Aloft the sprawling hero flies,

Mangled he falls, he howls, and dies.

THE ELEPHANT AND THE BOOKSELLER.

THE man who with undaunted toils
Sails unknown seas to unknown soils,
With various wonders feasts his sight:
What stranger wonders does he write?
We read, and in description view
Creatures which Adam never knew ;
For when we risk no contradiction,
It prompts the tongue to deal in fiction.
Those things that startle me or you
I grant are strange; yet may be true.

Who doubts that Elephants are found
For science and for sense renown'd?
Borri records their strength of parts,
Extent of thought, and skill in arts;
How they perform the law's decrees,
And save the state the hangman's fees;
And how by travel understand
The language of another land.
Let those who question this report,

To Pliny's ancient page resort.

How learn'd was that sagacious breed!
Who now (like them) the Greek can read!
As one of these, in days of yore,
Rummag'd a shop of learning o'er,
Not, like our modern dealers, minding
Only the margin's breadth and binding;
A book his curious eye detains,
Where, with exactest care and pains,
Were every beast and bird portray'd,
That e'er the search of man survey'd ;
Their natures and their powers were writ
With all the pride of human wit:
The page he with attention spread,
And thus remark'd on what he read.

'Man with strong reason is endow'd,
A beast scarce instinct is allow'd:
But let this author's worth be tried,
'Tis plain that neither was his guide.
Can he discern the different natures,
And weigh the pow'r of other creatures,

Who by the partial work hath shown
He knows so little of his own?

How falsely is the spaniel drawn!
Did man from him first learn to fawn?
A dog proficient in the trade!
He, the chief flatterer Nature made!
Go, Man! the ways of courts discern,
You'll find a spaniel still might learn.
How can the fox's theft and plunder
Provoke his censure or his wonder?
From courtiers' tricks and lawyers' arts,
The fox might well improve his parts.
The lion, wolf, and tiger's brood,
He curses, for their thirst of blood:
But is not man to man a prey?
Beasts kill for hunger, men for pay.'

The Bookseller, who heard him speak,
And saw him turn a page of Greek,
Thought, what a genius have I found!
Then thus address'd with bow profound.
'Learn'd Sir, if you'd employ your pen
Against the senseless sons of men,
Or write the history of Siam,

No man is better pay than I am;

Or, since you're learn'd in Greek, let's see Something against the Trinity.

When wrinkling with a sneer his trunk, 'Friend, (quoth the Elephant) you're drunk: E'en keep your money and be wise;

Leave man on man to criticize:

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