MATTHEW PRIOR. 1664–1721. All jargon of the schools. On Exodus iii. 14. Be to her virtues very kind; Be to her faults a little blind. An English Padlock. Abra was ready ere I call'd her name ; Who breathes, must suffer, and who thinks, must mourn; And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born. Ibid. Book iii. Line 240. Till their own dreams at length deceive 'em, And, oft repeating, they believe 'em. This thought is ascribed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius, Lib. v. § 18. Ερωτηθεὶς τί ἐστιν ἐλπίς; Εγρη γορότος, εἶπεν, ἐνύπνιον. Menage, in his Observations upon Laertius, says that Stobæus (Serm. cix.) ascribes it to Pindar, whilst Ælian (Var. Hist. xiii. 29) refers it to Plato: "Eλɛyev ó 11λúrwv, τὰς ἐλπίδας ἐγρηγορότων ἀνθρώπων ὀνείρους εἶναι. Now fitted the halter, now travers'd the cart, And thought the nation ne'er would thrive Paulo Purganti. Nobles and heralds, by your leave, Here lies what once was Matthew Prior; The son of Adam and of Eve: Can Bourbon or Nassau claim higher? 2 Epitaph on Himself. Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song? A Better Answer. That air and harmony of shape express, Fine by degrees, and beautifully less.3 Henry and Emma. 1 As men that be lothe to departe do often take their leff. John Clerk to Wolsey. - Ellis's Letters, Third series, i. 262. A loth to depart was the common term for a song, or a tune played, on taking leave of friends. See Tarlton's News out of Purgatory (about 1689); Chapman's Widow's Tears; Middleton's, The Old Law, Act iv. Sc. Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at several Weapons, Act ii. Sc. 2. I; 2 The following epitaph was written long before the time of Prior : Johnnie Carnegie lais heer. Descendit of Adam and Eve, Gif ony con gang hieher, Ise willing give him leve. 3 Fine by defect, and delicately weak. -- Pope, Moral Essays, Epistle ii. Line 43. Our hopes, like tow'ring falcons, aim To the Hon. Charles Montague. From ignorance our comfort flows. They never taste who always drink ; Ibid. His cogitative faculties immers'd In cogibundity of cogitation. Ibid. Acti. Sc. 1. 1 But all the pleasure of the game 2 Is afar off to view the flight. Variations in a copy printed 1692. Where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise. Gray, Eton College, St. 10. Let the singing singers With vocal voices, most vociferous, In sweet vociferation, out-vociferize Ev'n sound itself. Chronon. Act i. Sc. 1. To thee, and gentle Rigdom Funnidos, Ibid. Acti. Sc. 3. Go call a coach, and let a coach be called, gods! Ibid. Act ii. Sc. 4. Genteel in personage, Conduct, and equipage; Noble by heritage, Generous and free. The Contrivances. Acti. Sc. 2. What a monstrous tail our cat has got! The Dragon of Wantley. Act ii. Sc. 1. Of all the girls that are so smart, Sally in our Alley. Of all the days that 's in the week I dearly love but one day, And that's the day that comes betwixt A Saturday and Monday. 1 Of all the girls that e'er was seen, There's none so fine as Nelly. Ibid. Swift, Ballad on Miss Nelly Bennet. JONATHAN SWIFT. 1667-1745. I've often wished that I had clear, Imitation of Horace. Book ii. Sat. 6. So geographers, in Afric maps,1 With savage pictures fill their gaps, And o'er unhabitable downs Place elephants for want of towns. Poetry, a Rhapsody. Where Young must torture his invention Ibid. Hobbes clearly proves, that every creature Lives in a state of war by nature. So, naturalists observe, a flea Ibid. Has smaller fleas that on him prey ; And these have smaller still to bite 'em ; Libertas et natale solum ; Ibid. Fine words! I wonder where you stole 'em. Verses occasioned by Whitshed's Motto on his Coach. 1 As geographers crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts and unap proachable bogs. — Plutarch, Theseus. |