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THE

CLOWN'S REPLY.

JOHN TROTT was desir'd by two witty peers, To tell them the reason why asses had ears? "An't please you," quoth John, "I'm not given to

letters,

"Nor dare I pretend to know more than my betters; "Howe'er, from this time, I shall ne'er see your graces,

"As I hope to be sav'd! without thinking on asses."

EDINBURGH, 1753.

STANZAS

ON

WOMAN.

WHEN lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can sooth her melancholy, What art can wash her guilt away?

The only art her guilt to cover,

To hide her shame from ev'ry eye, To give repentance to her lover,

And wring his bosom-is, to die.

DESCRIPTION

OF AN

AUTHOR'S BED-CHAMBER.

WHERE the Red Lion, staring o'er the way,
Invites each passing stranger that can pay;
Where Calvert's butt, and Parsons' black champaign,
Regale the drabs and bloods of Drury-lane;
There in a lonely room, from bailiffs snug,

The Muse found Scroggen stretch'd beneath a rug;
A window, patch'd with paper, lent a ray,
That dimly shew'd the state in which he lay;
The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread;
The humid wall with paltry pictures spread;
The royal game of goose was there in view,
And the twelve rules the royal martyr drew;

The seasons, fram'd with listing, found a place, And brave prince William shew'd his lamp-black

face:

The morn was cold, he views with keen desire

The rusty grate unconscious of a fire:

With beer and milk arrears the frieze was scor'd,

And five crack'd tea-cups dress'd the chimney

board;

A night-cap deck'd his brows instead of bay,

A cap by night-a stocking all the day!

LINES,

ATTRIBUTED TO

DR. GOLDSMITH;

INSERTED IN THE MORNING CHRONICLE OF APRIL 3, 1800:

E'EN have you seen, bath'd in the morning dew, The budding rose its infant bloom display; When first its virgin tints unfold to view,

It shrinks, and scarcely trusts the blaze of day.

So soft, so delicate, so sweet she came,

Youth's damask glow just dawning on her cheek;

I gaz'd, I sigh'd, I caught the tender flame,

Felt the fond pang, and droop'd with passion

weak.

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