Short Poems

Oh, solemnly,
And not with lips in mockery curl'd,
Contemplate me!
For I have been of godhead full,
And still I am a human skull;
A ruin that was once a world!

ON A CERTAIN LORD'S PASSION FOR A SINGER .

N ERINA'S angel voice delights;
Nerina's devil-face affrights;
How whimsical her Strephon's fate,
Condemn'd at once to like and hate!
But be she cruel, be she kind,
Love! strike her dumb, or make him blind.

Here lies kind Tom, thrust out of door,
Nor high nor low, nor rich nor poor;
He left the world with heavy cheer,
And never knew what he made here.

Her Prudence, Wit and Memory being told,
Death seiz'd her streight; mistook her to be old.
A sheet of Bacon 's catch'd at more, we know,
Than all sad Fox , long Holinshead or Stow .
She was but Eight; yet judgment had such store,
Upon a just Compute she dy'd Threescore.
Ladies, take heed how to be wise you try,
For 'tis resolv'd, who will be wise must dye.

SHE DIED AT THE AGE OF SIX YEARS .

Nature in this small volume was about
To perfect what in woman was left out;
Yet fearful lest a piece so well begun
Might want preservatives, when she had done,
Ere she could finish what she undertook,
Threw dust upon it, and shut up the book.

Here wither'd lies a flower, which blown,
Was cropp'd as soon as it was known;
The loss was great, and the offence,
Since one unworthy took it hence.

UPON WADING THROUGH A LATE SOMNIFEROUS " SUPPLEMENTAL
APOLOGY, " &C.

Poor George! in ev'ry page thy readers trace
The heavy influence of thy " Leaden Mace:
They all exclaim, when once thy book is read —
" His ink is Opium , and his pen is lead! "

TO CAPTAIN THOMAS BYAM MARTIN, UPON HIS TAKING THE FRENCH
FRIGATE L'IMMORTALITE .

The Thames, by you to England's king restor'd,
Entwin'd a laurel round your maiden sword;
But this last trophy, won upon the sea,
Makes you partake of Immortality!

On Judg Ask.

Who ist that Rides our Circuit? Ask
And you may quickly read his name
For 'tis in noe Disguise nor Mask
But As with K: spell heer the same
And to's Profession This relates
Whilst t'other His Nature denotates.

Candida perspicuo numerantur Lilia vitro

Glasses Transparent Lillies white disclose
Soe Cristall cannot hide the Blushing Rose
A woemans body 'neth a silk smocks seen
As Pibbles in a clear Stream numbred been.