'Of carps and mullets why prefer the great, (Tho' cut in pieces ere my lord can eat) Yet for small turbots such esteem profess? Because God made these large, the other less. 2Oldfield, with more than Harpy throat endu'd, Cries, "Send me, Gods! a whole hog barbecu'd !" Oh blast it, 3South-winds! till a stench exhale Rank as the ripeness of a rabbit's tail.

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[ista,

Rara avis, et picta pandat spectacula cauda:
Tanquam ad rem attineat quicquam. num vesceris
Quam laudas, pluma? cocto num adest honor idem ?
Carne tamen quamvis distat nihil, hac magis ìlla,
Imparibus formis deceptum te patet. esto.
Unde datum sentis, lupus hic, Tiberinus, an alto
Captus hiet? pontesne inter jactatus, an amnis
Ostia sub Tusci? laudas, insane, trilibrem
Mullum; in singula quem minuas pulmenta necesse

est.

Ducit te species, video. quo pertinet ergo
Proceros odisse lupos? quia cilicet illis

Majorem natura modum dedit, his breve pondus.
Jejunus raro stomachus vulgaria temnit.

2Porrectum magno magnum spectare catino

Vellem, ait Harpyiis gula digna rapacibus. at vos, 3 Præsentes Austri, coquite horum obsonia: quan

quam

Putet aper, rhombusque recens, mala copia quando
Ægrum sollicitat stomachum ; cum rapula plenus

By what criterion do you eat, d'ye think,

If this is priz'd for sweetness, that for stink?
When the tir'd glutton labours thro' a treat,
He finds no relish in the sweetest meat;

30

He calls for something bitter, something sour,
And the rich feast concludes extremely poor.

'Cheap eggs, and herbs, and olives, still we see: Thus much is left of old simplicity!

35

2The robin redbreast till of late had rest,

And children sacred held a martin's nest ;

Till baccaficos sold so dev'lish dear,

To one that was, or would have been, a peer.
3 Let me extol a cat on oysters fed,
I'll have a party at the Bedford-head;
Or ev'n to crack live crawfish recommend;
I'd never doubt at court to make a friend.
4'Tis yet in vain, I own, to keep a pother
About one vice, and fall into the other:

Atque acidas mavult inulas. 'necdum omnis abacta Pauperies epulis regum: nam vilibus ovis,

Nigrisque est oleis hodie locus. haud ita pridem

Galloni præconis erat acipensere mensa

Infamis. quid? tum rhombus minus æquor alebat? 2Tutus erat rhombus, tutoque ciconia nido; Donec vos auctor docuit prætorius. ergo 3Si quis nunc mergos suaves edixerit assos; Parebit pravi docilis Romana juventus. 4Sordidus a tenui victu distabit, Ofello

40

45

Between excess and famine lies a mean;

Plain, but not sordid, tho' not splendid, clean.

Avidien or his wife (no matter which,
For him you'll call a 2dog, and her a bitch)
Sell their presented partridges and fruits,
And humbly live on rabbits and on roots;
3One half-pint bottle serves them both to dine,
And is at once their vinegar and wine;

But on some 4lucky day, (as when they found

A lost bank-bill, or heard their son was drown'd)
At such a feast, sold vinegar to spare,
Is what two souls so gen'rous cannot bear :
Oil, tho' it stink, they drop by drop impart,
But souse the cabbage with a bounteous heart.
"He knows to live who keeps the middle state,
And neither leans on this side, nor on that;

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55

60

Judice. nam frustra vitium vitaveris illud,
Si te alio pravum detorseris. 'Avidienus,
2Cui canis ex vero ductum cognomen adhæret,
Quinquennes oleas est, et sylvestria corna;
3Ac, nisi mutatum, parcit defundere vinum, et
Cujus odorem olei nequcas perferre, licebit
Ille repotia, natales, aliosve dierum
4 Festos a batus celebret, cornu ipse bilibri
Caulibus instillat, Sveteris non parcus aceti.

Quali igitur victu sapiens utetur, et horum Utrum imitabitur? hac urget lupus, hac canis, angit. 6Mundus erit, qui non offendet sordibus, atque

Nor stops for one bad cork his butler's pay,
Swears, like Albutius, a good cook away;
Nor lets, like "Nævius, ev'ry error pass,
The musty wine, foul cloth, or greasy glass.

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70

3 Now hear what blessings temperance can bring : (Thus said our friend, and what he said I sing) 4First health: the stomach (cramm'd from ev'ry dish, A tomb of boil'd and roast, and flesh and fish, Where bile, and wind, and phlegm, and acid jar, And all the man is one intestine war) Remembers oft' 5the schoolboys' simple fare, The temp❜rate sleeps, and spirits light as air. 6How pale each worshipful and rev'rend guest Rise from a clergy, or a city, feast! What life in all that ample body say? What heav'nly particle inspires the clay ?

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In neutram partem cultus miser. 'Hic neque servis,
Albuti senis exemplo, dum munia didit,
Sævus erit; nec sit ut simplex 2Nævius, unctam [num.
Convivis præbebit aquam: vitium hoc quoque mag-

3 Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quæ quantaque secum
Afferat. 4in primis valeas bene: nam variæ res
Ut noceant homini, credas, memor illius escæ
Quæ simplex Solim tibi sederit. at simul assis
Miscueris elixa, simul conchylia turdis;

Dulcia se in bilem vertent, stomachoque tumultum Lenta feret pituita. rides, ut pallidus omnis

The soul subsides, and wickedly inclines

To seem but mortal, ev'n in sound divines.

'On morning wings how active springs the mind That leaves the load of yesterday behind!

How easy every labour it pursues!

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How coming to the poet ev'ry Muse!

"Not but we may exceed some holy time,

85

Or tir'd in search of truth, or search of rhyme :
Ill health some just indulgence may engage,
And more the sickness of long life, old age:
3For fainting age what cordial drop remains,
If our intemp'rate youth the vessel drains?

4Our fathers prais'd rank ven'son. You suppose, Perhaps, young men! our fathers had no nose.

Cœna desurgat dubia? quin corpus onustum
Hesternis vitiis animum quoque prægravat una,
Atque affigit humo divinæ particulam auræ.
Alter, ubi dicto citius curata sopori

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Membra dedit, vegetus præscripta ad munia surgit.
2 Hic tamen ad melius poterit transcurrere quondam ;
Sive diem festum rediens advexerit annus,
Seu recreare volet tenuatum corpus, ubique
Accedent anni, et tractari mollius ætas
Imbecilla volet. 3tibi quidnam accedet ad istam,
Quam puer et validus præsumis, mollitiem; seu
Dura valetudo inciderit, seu tarda senectus? [nasus
4 Rancidum aprum antiqui laudabant: non quia