Page:Vida's Art of Poetry.djvu/105

See how we bear away their precious spoils,
And with the glorious dress enrich our styles;
Their bright inventions for our use convey,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Bring all the spirit of their words away,
And make their words themselves our lawful prey.
Unsham'd in other colours to be shown,
We speak our thoughts in accents not our own.
But your design with modest caution weigh,
Steal with due care, and meditate the prey.
Invert the order of the words with art,
And change their former site in ev'ry part.
Thus win your readers, thus deceive with grace,
And let th' expression wear a diff'rent face;
Your self at last, the glorious labour done,
Will scarce discern his diction from your own.
Some, to appear of diffidence bereft,
Steal in broad day, and glory in the theft;
When with just art, design, and confidence,
On the same words they graft a diff'rent sense;
Preserve th' unvari'd terms and order too,
But change their former spirit for a new.

Or,