Page:Trivia (John Gay) to which is added London (Samuel Johnson) (1809).djvu/27

---

---

The dustman's cart offends thy clothes and eyes,
When through the street a cloud of ashes flies.
But whether black or lighter dyes are worn,
The chandler's basket, on his shoulder borne,40
With tallow spots thy coat: resign the way,
To shun the surly butcher's greasy tray;—
Butchers! whose hands are died with blood's foul stain,
And always foremost in the hangman's train.
Let due civilities be strictly paid.45
The wall surrender to the hooded maid;
Nor let thy sturdy elbow's hasty rage
Jostle the feeble steps of trembling age:
And when the porter bends beneath his load,
And pants for breath, clear thou the crowded road:
But, above all, the groping blind direct,51
And from the pressing throng the lame protect.
You'll sometimes meet a fop, of nicest tread,
Whose mantling peruke veils his empty head;
At ev'ry step he dreads the wall to lose,55
And risks, to save a coach, his red-heel'd shoes;
Him, like the miller, pass with caution by,
Lest from his shoulder clouds of powder fly: