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The man was human through and through,
His faults belong to me and you,
'Tis well if we've his good points too,
And make no fuss about them.
His faults belong to me and you,
'Tis well if we've his good points too,
And make no fuss about them.
Could we to life but call him back
He would not a warm welcome lack
If with us he'd foregather:
How should we hang upon his chat,
His anecdotes and stories pat
Of rakish Earls and Ladies that
Had slipped from virtue's tether!
He would not a warm welcome lack
If with us he'd foregather:
How should we hang upon his chat,
His anecdotes and stories pat
Of rakish Earls and Ladies that
Had slipped from virtue's tether!
Yet were he here in person, he
Could scarcely help us more to see
His age's form and pressure
Than in his diary unique
(You'll vainly such another seek!),
He shows it with unvarnished cheek,
Than Lely's colours fresher!
Could scarcely help us more to see
His age's form and pressure
Than in his diary unique
(You'll vainly such another seek!),
He shows it with unvarnished cheek,
Than Lely's colours fresher!
A sad and shameful time we own
Was his: yet could the truth be known
Is our age much more moral?
A nineteenth-century Pepys may be
Is now at work to prove that we
Have very little warranty
With Charles's time to quarrel!
Was his: yet could the truth be known
Is our age much more moral?
A nineteenth-century Pepys may be
Is now at work to prove that we
Have very little warranty
With Charles's time to quarrel!
1893
39
