LONDON,

A POEM:

IN IMITATION OF THE

THIRD SATIRE OF JUVENAL.

Written in 1798.

Quis ineptæ

Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat se?-Juv.

'THOUGH grief and fondness in my breast rebel,
When injur❜d THALES bids the town farewell,
Yet still my calmer thoughts his choice commend,
I praise the hermit, but regret the friend,
Resolv'd at length, from vice and London far,
To breathe in distant fields a purer air,
And, fix'd on Cambria's solitary shore,
Give to St David one true Briton more.

* For who would leave, unbrib'd, Hibernia's land, Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand?

JUV. SAT. III.

1 Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici: Laudo, tamen, vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis Destinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ.

2

Ego vel Prochytam præpono Suburræ,
Nam quid tam miserum, tam solum vidimus, ut non
Deterius credas horrere incendia, lapsus
Tectorum assiduos, et mille pericula sævæ
Urbis, et Augusto recitantes mense poetas?

There none are swept by sudden fate away,
But all, whom hunger spares, with age decay:
Here malice, rapine, accident, conspire,
And now a rabble rages, now a fire;

Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay,
And here the fell attorney prowls for prey;
Hère falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female Atheist talks you dead.

3 While THALES waits the wherry that contains
Of dissipated wealth the small remains,
On Thames's banks, in silent thought we stood
Where Greenwich smiles upon the silver flood;
Struck with the seat that gave ELIZA* birth,
We kneel and kiss the consecrated earth;
In pleasing dreams the blissful age renew,
And call Britannia's glories back to view ;
Behold her cross triumphant on the main,
The guard of commerce, and the dread of Spain,
Ere masquerades debauch'd, excise oppress'd,
Or English honour grew a standing jest.

A transient calm the happy scenes bestow,
And for a moment lull the sense of woe.
At length awaking, with contemptuous frown,
Indignant THALES eyes the neighb'ring town.

4 Since worth, he cries, in these degenerate days Wants ev'n the cheap reward of empty praise;

Sed, dum tota domus rhedâ componitur unâ, Substitit ad veteres arcus.

• Hic tunc Umbritius: Quando artibus, inquit, honestis Nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum,

Res hodie minor est, heri quam fuit, atque eadem cras

* Queen Elizabeth, born at Greenwich.

In those curs❜d walls, devote to vice and gain,
Since unrewarded science toils in vain ;
Since hope but sooths to double my distress,
And ev'ry moment leaves my little less;
While yet my steady steps no 5 staff sustains,
And life still vig'rous revels in my veins;
Grant me, kind Heaven, to find some happier place,
Where honesty and sense are no disgrace;

Some pleasing bank where verdant osiers play,
Some peaceful vale with Nature's paintings gay;
Where once the harass'd Briton found repose,
And safe in poverty defied his foes;

Some secret cell, ye Pow'rs, indulgent give, • Let live here, for

has learn'd to live. Here let those reign, whom pensions can incite To vote a patriot black, a courtier white; Explain their country's dear-bought rights away, And plead for * pirates in the face of day; With slavish tenets taint our poison'd youth, And lend a lie the confidence of truth.

7 Let such raise palaces, and manors buy, Collect a tax, or farm a lottery;

Deteret exiguis aliquid: proponimus illuc
Ire, fatigatas ubi Dædalus exuit alas;
Dum nova canities.-

Porto meis, nullo dextram subeunte bacillo.
6 Cedamus patriâ: vivant Arturius istic

Et Catullus: maneant qui nigrum in candida vertunt.
7 Queis facile est ædem conducere, flumina, portus,
Siccandam eluviem, portandum ad busta cadaver.—
Munera nunc edunt.

* The invasions of the Spaniards were defended in the Houses of Parliament.

With warbling eunuchs fill our * licens❜d stage,
And lull to servitude a thoughtless age.

Heroes, proceed! what bounds your pride shall hold?

What check restrain your thirst of pow'r and gold? Behold rebellious virtue quite o'erthrown,

Behold our fame, our wealth, our lives, your own.
To such, the plunder of a land is giv❜n,

When public crimes inflame the wrath of Heav'n :
But what, my friend, what hope remains for me,
Who start at theft, and blush at perjury?
Who scarce forbear, though Britain's court he sing,
To pluck a titled poet's borrow'd wing;
A statesman's logic unconvinc'd can hear,
And dare to slumber o'er the † Gazetteer ;
Despise a fool in half his pension dress'd,
And strive in vain to laugh at Clodio's jest.

› Others with softer smiles, and subtler art,
Can sap the principles, or taint the heart;
With more address a lover's note convey,
Or bribe a virgin's innocence away.

Well may they rise, while I, whose rustic tongue
Ne'er knew to puzzle right, or varnish wrong,
Spurn'd as a beggar, dreaded as a spy,
Live unregarded, unlamented die.

8 Quid Romæ faciam? mentiri nescio: librum,
Si malus est, nequeo laudare et poscere.-
9 Ferre ad nuptas quæ mittit adulter,
Quæ mandat norint alii: me nemo ministro
Fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo.

The licensing act was then lately made.

†The paper which at that time contained apologies for the

court.

1

10 For what but social guilt the friend endears? Who shares Orgilio's crimes, his fortune shares. "But thou, should tempting villany present All Marlb'rough hoarded, or all Villiers spent, Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy scornful eye, Nor sell for gold, what gold could never buy, The peaceful slumber, self-approving day, Unsullied fame, and conscience ever gay.

12 The cheated nation's happy fav'rites, see! Mark whom the great caress, who frown on me! London! the needy villain's gen❜ral home, The common-sewer of Paris and of Rome; With eager thirst, by folly or by fate, Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state. Forgive my transports on a theme like this, 13 I cannot bear a French metropolis.

14 Illustrious Edward! from the realms of day, The land of heroes and of saints survey; Nor hope the British lineaments to trace, The rustic grandeur, or the surly grace; But, lost in thoughtless ease and empty show, Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau;

10 Quis nunc diligitur nisi conscius?.

Carus erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore, quo vult,
Accusare potest.

11

Tanti tibi non sit opaci

Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum,
Ut somno careas.-

12 Quæ nunc divitibus gens acceptissima nostris,
Et quos præcipue fugiam, properabo fateri.

13 - Non possum ferre, Quirites,

Græcam urbem.

14 Rusticus ille tuus sumit trechedipna, Quirine, Et ceromatico fert niceteria collo.