EPISTLES.
51
"Tryphon constrains me from the dead,
"A wizard whom I hate and dread; 20
"By him to dangle on a post
"I'm conjur'd up"—"Alas! poor Ghost!"
"A pendulum I there am made,
"To move the leaden wheels of trade;
"And while each little author struts 25
"In calf's-skin gilt, adorn'd with cuts,
"I, vouching, pass 'em off as dear
"As any staple classic ware.
"Peers, parsons, cits, a motley tribe,
"Flock there to purchase and subscribe, 30
"While Tryphon, as the gudgeons bite,
"Chuckles to see them grow polite."
For ends thus infamously low,
It sure would seem as à propos
For Dennis at his door to stand, 35
With a good broomstick in his hand;⠀⠀
Then, should the chaps find ought amiss,
Or blame the price, the tragic Swiss
Might have his better parts employ'd
To criticize them back and side. 40
Or is there none of all his race
Whose features would a sign-board grace?
Oft' in the wizard's cell I 'ave seen
A sorrel man, of awkward mien,
Prying with busy leer about, 45
As if he were the devil's scout.
"A wizard whom I hate and dread; 20
"By him to dangle on a post
"I'm conjur'd up"—"Alas! poor Ghost!"
"A pendulum I there am made,
"To move the leaden wheels of trade;
"And while each little author struts 25
"In calf's-skin gilt, adorn'd with cuts,
"I, vouching, pass 'em off as dear
"As any staple classic ware.
"Peers, parsons, cits, a motley tribe,
"Flock there to purchase and subscribe, 30
"While Tryphon, as the gudgeons bite,
"Chuckles to see them grow polite."
For ends thus infamously low,
It sure would seem as à propos
For Dennis at his door to stand, 35
With a good broomstick in his hand;⠀⠀
Then, should the chaps find ought amiss,
Or blame the price, the tragic Swiss
Might have his better parts employ'd
To criticize them back and side. 40
Or is there none of all his race
Whose features would a sign-board grace?
Oft' in the wizard's cell I 'ave seen
A sorrel man, of awkward mien,
Prying with busy leer about, 45
As if he were the devil's scout.
