Page:Trivia (John Gay) to which is added London (Samuel Johnson) (1809).djvu/19

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And sweats with secret grief. You'll hear the sounds
Of whistling winds ere kennels break their bounds;
Ungrateful odours common-sewers diffuse,
And drooping vaults distil unwholesome dews,
Ere the tiles rattle with the smoking show'r,
And spouts on heedless men their torrents pour.
All superstition from thy breast repel.— 175
Let cred’lous boys and prattling nurses tell
How, if the festival of Paul be clear,
Plenty from lib'ral horn shall strow the year;
When the dark skies dissolve in snow or rain,
The lab’ring hind shall yoke the steer in vain;180
But if the threat'ning winds in tempest roar,
Then War shall bathe her wasteful sword in gore:—
How, if on Swithin's feast the welkin lours,
And ev'ry penthouse streams with hasty show’rs,
Twice twenty days shall clouds their fleeces drain,
And wash the pavements with incessant rain.186
Let not such vulgar tales debase thy mind;
Nor Paul nor Swithin rules the clouds and wind.
If you the precepts of the muse despise,
And slight the faithful warning of the skies,190

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