Tyber's tide,
Shall Macaronis soon possess Cheapside;
As petty-jury-men in judgment sit,
And ev'ry Corydon, with Nyk, acquit.
Yes by this knife, this useful14 knife, I swear,
Which for my lov'd B——tti's sake I wear;
This knife, whose haft, at Stratford Jubilee,
For ever left its parent mulberry tree;
For thence it grew, tho', tipt with steel so fine,
It now will serve to stab with, or to dine;
That tree, which late on Avon's border grew;
By Shakespeare planted; Warwick lads say true;

 

IMITATIONS.

Ducite ab urbe domum mea carmina ducite Daphnim. Α'λλ' ἑκ τοι ἑῥεω, και ἑπἱ μἑγαν ὁρκον ὁμουμαι,
Ναἱ μἁ τὁδε ςκηπρον, τὁ μἑν ουποττε φυλλα και ὁζους
Φυσει, ἑπειδἡ πρωτα τομἡν ἑν ὁρεσσι λελοιπεν,
Οὑδ' ἁναθηλἡσειΟὑδ' ἁναθηλἡσει. Hom. Ut sceptrum hoc (sceptrum dextrâ nam fortè gerebat)
Nunquam fronde levi fundet virgulta nec umbras;
Cùm semel in sylvis imo de stirpe recisum,
Matre caret posuitque comas et brachia ferro
Olim arbos, nunc artificis manus ære decoro.
Inclusit patribusque dedit gestare Latinis. Virg.  

NOTES.

---

By this most precious relick, here I pledge Myself to save him from the halter's edge: And not myself alone, but ev'ry friend Shall all his interest and assistance lend. Quaint B——, beholding the rude mob with scorn, Shall tell how Irish bards are gentle born; Next I, to captivate the learned bench, Will strait affirm that Nyky writes good French;15 Thy timid nature Johnson shall maintain,16 In words no dictionary can explain. Goldsmith, good-natur'd man, shall next defend, His foster-brother,17 countryman, and friend: Shall prove the humbler passions, now and then, Are incidental to us little men;

IMITATIONS.

Hanc ego magnanimi spolium Didymaonis hastam, Ut semel est avulsa jugis à matre perempta, Quæ neque jam frondes virides neque proferet umbras, Fida ministeria et duras obit horrida pugnas Testor.

Val. Flac.

NOTES.

---

And that the part our gentle Nyky play'd Was but philosophy in masquerade.18 Let me no longer, then, my loss deplore, But to his Roscius, Muse, my Nyk restore.

IMITATIONS.

Ducite ab urbe domum mea carmina ducite Daphnim.

NOTES.

Poor Dryden! what a theme hadst thou, Compar'd to that which offers now? What are your Britons, Romans, Grecians, Compar'd with thorough-bred Milesians? Step into Griffin's shop, he'll tell ye Of Goldsmith, Bickerstaff, and Kelly, Three poets of one age and nation, Whose more than mortal reputation, Mounting in trio to the skies O'er Milton's fame and Virgil's flies. Nay, take one Irish evidence for t'other, Ev'n Homer's self is but their foster-brother.