their own opinion of the features of his mind and the complexion of his life.
Ah me! the dire effect
Of loitering here, of death defrauded long;
Of old so gracious (and let that suffice),
My very master knows me not.
*
I've been so long remember'd, I'm forgot,
*
When in his courtier's ears I pour my plaint,
They drink it as the Nectar of the Great;
And squeeze my hand, and beg me come tomorrow.
*
Twice told the period spent on stubborn Troy,
Court-favour, yet untaken, I besiege.
*
If this song lives, Posterity shall know
One, though in Britain born, with courtiers bred,
Who thought ev'n gold might come a day too late;
Nor on his subtle death-bed plann'd his scheme
For future vacancies in church or state.
Deduct from the writer's age "twice told the period spent on stubborn Troy," and you will still leave him more than forty when he sate down to the miserable siege of court favour. He has before told us
"A fool at forty is a fool indeed."
