Page:Essays - Abraham Cowley (1886).djvu/94

(The ancient plenty of his hall to boast)
Did all the stores produce that might excite,
With various tastes, the courtier's appetite.
Fitches and beans, peason, and oats, and wheat,
And a large chestnut, the delicious, meat
"Which Jove himself, were he a mouse, would eat.
And for a haut goust there was mixed with these
The swerd of bacon, and the coat of cheese,
The precious relics, which at harvest he
Had gathered from the reapers' luxury.
"Freely," said he, "fall on, and never spare,
The bounteous gods will for to-morrow care."
And thus at ease on beds of straw they lay,
And to their genius sacrificed the day.
Yet the nice guest's epicurean mind
(Though breeding made him civil seem, and kind)
Despised this country feast, and still his thought
Upon the cakes and pies of London wrought.
"Your bounty and civility," said he,
"Which I'm surprised in these rude parts to see,
Show that the gods have given you a mind
Too noble for the fate which here you find.