( 5 )
"Good friend forbear! you deal in dang'rous things,
"I'd never name Queens, Ministers, or Kings;
"Keep close to Ears, and those let Asses prick, 75
"'Tis nothing"———Nothing? if they bite and kick?
Out with it, Dunciad! let the secret pass,
That Secret to each Fool, that he's an Ass:
The Truth once told, (and wherefore should we lie?)
The Queen of Midas slept, and so may I. 80
"I'd never name Queens, Ministers, or Kings;
"Keep close to Ears, and those let Asses prick, 75
"'Tis nothing"———Nothing? if they bite and kick?
Out with it, Dunciad! let the secret pass,
That Secret to each Fool, that he's an Ass:
The Truth once told, (and wherefore should we lie?)
The Queen of Midas slept, and so may I. 80
You think this cruel? take it for a rule,
No Creature smarts so little as a Fool.
Let Peals of Laughter, Codrus! round thee break,
Thou unconcern'd canst hear the mighty Crack.
Pit, Box and Gall'ry in convulsions hurl'd, 85
Thou stand'st unshook amidst a bursting World.
Who shames a Scribler? break one cobweb thro',
He spins the slight, self-pleasing thread anew;
Destroy his Fib, or Sophistry; in vain,
The Creature's at his dirty work again; 90
Thron'd in the Centre of his thin designs;
Proud of a vast Extent of flimzy lines.
Whom have I hurt? has Poet yet, or Peer,
Lost the arch'd eye-brow, or parnassian sneer?
No Creature smarts so little as a Fool.
Let Peals of Laughter, Codrus! round thee break,
Thou unconcern'd canst hear the mighty Crack.
Pit, Box and Gall'ry in convulsions hurl'd, 85
Thou stand'st unshook amidst a bursting World.
Who shames a Scribler? break one cobweb thro',
He spins the slight, self-pleasing thread anew;
Destroy his Fib, or Sophistry; in vain,
The Creature's at his dirty work again; 90
Thron'd in the Centre of his thin designs;
Proud of a vast Extent of flimzy lines.
Whom have I hurt? has Poet yet, or Peer,
Lost the arch'd eye-brow, or parnassian sneer?
And
