In vain fhe fearch'd each cranny of the house, Each gaping chink, impervious to a mouse. "Was it for this (fhe cry'd) with daily care "Within thy reach I fet the vinegar, "And fill'd the cruet with the acid tide, "While pepper-water worms thy bait fupply'd;

" Where twin'd the filver eel around thy hook, "And all the little monfters of the brook! "Sure in that lake he dropt; my Grilly's "drown'd!"

She dragg'd the cruet, but no Grildrig found. "Vain is thy courage, Grilly, vain thy. "boaft;

"But little creatures enterprise the most. Trembling, I've seen thee dare the kitten's

paw,

"Nay, mix with children, as they play'd at

taw,

"Nor fear the marbles, as they bounding flew; "Marbles to them, but rolling rocks to you.

Why did I trust thee with that giddy "youth?

"Who from a page can ever learn the truth? "Vers'd in court tricks, that money-loving

"boy

"To fome lord's daughter fold the living toy, "Or rent him limb from limb in cruel play, "As children tear the wings of flies away.

"From place to place o'er Brobdingnag I'll

roam,

"And never will return, or bring thee home. "But who hath eyes to trace the paffing wind?

"How then thy fairy footsteps can I find? "Doft thou bewilder'd wander all alone "In the green thicket of a moffy ftone; "Or, tumbled from the toadstool's flipp'ry "round,

"Perhaps all maim'd lie grov'ling on the "ground?

"Doft thou, imbofom'd in the lovely rose, "Or funk within the peach's down, repose? "Within the king-cup if thy limbs are spread, “Or in the golden cowflip's velvet head, "O fhew me, Flora, 'midft those sweets, "the flow'r

"Where fleeps my Grildrig in his fragrant "bow'r!

"But ah! I fear thy little fancy roves "On little females, and on little loves;

Thy pigmy children, and thy tiny spouse, "The baby play-things that adorn thy house, "Doors, windows, chimnies, and the spa

"cious rooms,

"Equal in fize to cells of honey-combs ;

"Haft

"Haft thou for thefe now ventur'd from the

"fhore,

Thy bark a bean-fhell, and a straw thine oar? "Or in thy box, now bounding on the main, "Shall I ne'er bear thyself and house again? "And fhall I fet thee on my hand no more, "To fee thee leap the lines, and traverse o'er My fpacious palm? of stature scarce a span,

"Mimick the actions of a real man? "No more behold thee turn my watch's key, "As feamen at a capftern anchors weigh? "How wer't thou wont to walk with cautious tread,

"A difh of tea, like milk-pail, on thy head? "How chafe the mite that bore thy cheese

away,

"And keep the rolling maggot at a bay?"

She faid; but broken accents ftopt her voice, Soft as the speaking-trumpet's mellow noise: She fobb'd a storm, and wip'd her flowing

eyes,

Which feem'd like two broad funs in mifty fkies.

O fquander not thy grief! thofe tears com

mand

To weep upon our cod in Newfoundland : The plenteous pickle fhall preferve the fish, And Europe tafte thy forrows in a dish.

P

*MARY

то

Captain LE MUEL GULLIVER.

ARGUMENT.

The captain, fome time after his return, being retired to Mr. Sympfon's in the country, Mrs. Gulliver, apprehending from his late behaviour fome eftrangement of his affections, writes him the following expoftulating, foothing, and tenderly complaining epiftle.

WELCOME, thrice welcome, to thy

native place!

What, touch me not? what, fhun a wife's embrace?

Have I for this thy tedious abfence borne, And wak'd, and wifh'd whole nights for thy return?

In five long years I took no fecond spouse; What Redriff wife fo long hath kept hervows? Your eyes, your nose, inconftancy betray; Your nose you stop, your eyes you turn away. 'Tis faid, that thou should'ft cleave unto thy wife;

Once thou did't cleave, and I could cleave for life.

Hear, and relent! hark how thy children moan!

Be kind at least to thefe; they are thy own:

Be bold, and count them all; fecure to find The honest number that you left behind. See how they pat thee with their pretty paws: Why start you? are they fnakes? or have they claws?

Thy chriftian feed, our mutual flesh and bone:.

Be kind at leaft to thefe; they are thy own. Biddel, like thee, might fartheft India

*

rove;

He chang'd his country, but retain'd his

-love.

There's captain Pennel abfent half his life, Comes back, and is the kinder to his wife. Yet Pennel's wife is brown compar'd to me, And Mrs. Biddel fure is fifty-three.

Not touch me! never neighbour call'd me

flut:

Was Flimnap's dame more fweet in Lilliput ? I've no red hair to breathe an odious fume; At least thy confort's cleaner than thy groom. Why then that dirty ftable-boy thy care? What mean thofe vifits to the forret mare? Say, by what witchcraft, or what dæmon led, Preferr❜ft thou litter to the marriage bed !

* Names of the fea-captains mention'd in Gulliver's travels.