The pleadings swell. Words still suffice.
No single word but has its price.

No term but yields some fair pretence,
For novel and increas'd expence.

Defendant thus becomes a name, Which he, that bore it, may disclaim; Since both, in one description blended, Are plaintiffs-when the suit is ended.

The Silk-Worm.

THE beams of April, ere it goes,
A worm, scarce visible, disclose;
All winter long content to dwell,
The tenant of his native shell.

Lis tumet in schedulas, et jam verbosior, et jam:
Nec verbum quodvis asse minoris emunt.
Præterunt menses, et terminus alter et alter;

Quisque novos sumptus alter et alter, habent.
Ille querens, hic respondens pendente vocatur
Lite; sed, ad finem litis, uterque querens.

The

Frondibus

The same prolific season gives
The sustenance, by which he lives,
The mulb'ry-leaf, a simple store,
That serves him-till he needs no more!
For, his dimensions once complete ;
Thenceforth none ever sees him eat;
Tho', till his growing time be past,
Scarce ever is he seen to fast.

That hour arriv'd; his work begins.

He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins;
Till circle upon circle wound

Careless around him and around,

Conceals him with a veil, tho' slight,
Impervious to the keenest sight.
Thus self-inclos'd, as in a cask,
At length he finishes his task;

And, tho' a worm, when he was lost,
Or caterpillar at the most.

Frondibus hic mori, volvox dum fiat adultus,
Gnaviter incumbens, dum satietur, edit.
Crescendo ad justum cum jam maturuit ævum,.
Incipit artifici stamine textor opus:
Filaque condensans filis, orbem implicat orbi

Et sensim in gyris conditus ipse latet.

When

Inque cadi teretem formam se colligit, unde

Egrediens pennas papilionis habet,

Fitque

When next we see him, wings he wears,
And in papilio-pomp appears;
Becomes oviparous; supplies

With future worms and future flies,
The next-ensuing year ;—and dies!

The Innocent Thief.

NOT a flow'r can be be found in the fields,
Or the spot that we till for our pleasure,
From the largest to least, but it yields

The bee, never-weary'd, a treasure.

Scarce any she quits unexplor'd,

With a diligence truly exact ;
Yet, steal what she may for her hoard,
Leaves evidence-none of the fact.

}

Fitque parens tandem, fætumque reponit in ovis
Hoc demum extremo munere fun&tus obit.
Quotquot in hac nostrâ spirant animalia terrâ,
Nulli est vel brevior vita, vel utilior.

Innocens Prædatrix.

SEDULA per campos nullo defessa labore,

In cellâ ut stipet mella vagatur apis: