The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 7/Epigram from the French

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The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7
(c. 1713)
by Jonathan Swift, edited by Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, John Boyle, Patrick Delany, John Hawkesworth, Deane Swift, William Bowyer, John Birch, and George Faulkner

Epigram from the French

On a Curate's Complaint of Hard Duty

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1560463The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7
— Epigram from the Frenchc. 1713Jonathan Swift

EPIGRAM. From the French^[1].

WHO can believe with common sense,
A bacon slice gives God offence;
Or, how a herring has a charm
Almighty vengeance to disarm?
Wrapp'd up in Majesty divine,
Does he regard on what we dine?

↑ A French gentleman dining with some company on a fastday, called for some bacon and eggs. The rest were very angry, and reproved him for so heinous a sin: whereupon he wrote the following lines extempore; which are translated above:

Peut on croire avec bon sens
⁠Qu'un lardon le mit en colère,
Ou, que manger un hareng,
⁠C'est un secret pour lui plaire?
En sa gloire envelopé,
⁠Songe-t-il bien de nos soupés?

[1] A French gentleman dining with some company on a fastday, called for some bacon and eggs. The rest were very angry, and reproved him for so heinous a sin: whereupon he wrote the following lines extempore; which are translated above:

Peut on croire avec bon sens
⁠Qu'un lardon le mit en colère,
Ou, que manger un hareng,
⁠C'est un secret pour lui plaire?
En sa gloire envelopé,
⁠Songe-t-il bien de nos soupés?

[1]