Were hastening to the field of fight,
And front to front stood opposite;
Before each general join'd the van,
Ay, the more courteous knight, began:
Stop, peevish Particle! beware!
I'm told you are not such a bear,
But sometimes yield when offer'd fair.
Suffer yon folks a while to tattle ;
'Tis we who must decide the battle.
Whene'er we war on yonder stage,
With various fate and equal rage,
The nation trembles at each blow
That No gives Ay, and Ay gives No;
Yet in expensive long contention,
We gain nor office, grant, or pension.
Why then should kinsfolk quarrel thus?
(For two of you make one of us.)
To some wise statesman let us go,
Where each his proper use may know:

He may admit two such commanders,

And make those wait who serv'd in Flanders. Let's quarter on a great man's tongue,

A treasury lord, not Maister Y

Obsequious at his high command,
Ay shall march forth to tax the land;
Impeachments No can best resist,
And Ay support the Civil list:
Ay, quick as Cæsar, wins the day,
And No, like Fabius, by delay.
Sometimes in mutual sly disguise,

-g.

Let Ay's seem No's, and No's seem Ay's;
Ay's be in courts denials meant,
And No's in bishops' give consent.'
Thus Ay propos'd—and, for reply,
No, for the first time, answer'd 'Ay!'
They parted with a thousand kisses,
And fight e'er since for pay, like Swisses.

RURAL SPORTS.

A GEORGIC.

IN TWO CANTOS.

You, who the sweets of rural life have known,
Despise th' ungrateful hurry of the Town;
In Windsor groves your easy hours employ,
And undisturb'd, yourself and Muse enjoy:
Thames listens to thy strains, and silent flows,
And no rude wind through rustling osiers blows,
While all his wondering nymphs around thee
throng,

To hear the Sirens warble in thy song.

But I, who ne'er was bless'd by Fortune's hand, Nor brighten'd ploughshares in paternal land; Long in the noisy Town have been immur'd, Respir'd its smoke, and all its cares endur'd; Where news and politics divide mankind, And schemes of state involve th' uneasy mind; Faction embroils the world, and every tongue Is mov'd by flattery, or with scandal hung: