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, * 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, There none are swept by sudden fate away, Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay, 3 While THALES waits the wherry that contains A transient calm the happy scenes bestow, 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, Some pleasing bank where verdant osiers play, 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 Porto meis, nullo dextram subeunte bacillo. Et Catullus: maneant qui nigrum in candida vertunt. * The invasions of the Spaniards were defended in the Houses of Parliament. With warbling eunuchs fill our * licens❜d stage, 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. When public crimes inflame the wrath of Heav'n : › Others with softer smiles, and subtler art, Well may they rise, while I, whose rustic tongue 8 Quid Romæ faciam? mentiri nescio: librum, 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, 11 Tanti tibi non sit opaci Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum, 12 Quæ nunc divitibus gens acceptissima nostris, 13 - Non possum ferre, Quirites, Græcam urbem. 14 Rusticus ille tuus sumit trechedipna, Quirine, Et ceromatico fert niceteria collo. |