Page:Trivia (John Gay) to which is added London (Samuel Johnson) (1809).djvu/49

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Who can recount the coach's various harms—
The legs disjointed, and the broken arms!
I've seen a beau, in some ill-fated hour,
When o'er the stones choak'd kennels swell the show'r,
In gilded chariot loll; he with disdain525
Views spatter'd passengers all drench'd in rain.
With mud fill'd high, the rumbling cart draws near—
Now rule thy prancing steeds, lac'd charioteer!—
The dustman lashes on with spiteful rage,529
His pond'rous spokes thy painted wheel engage;
Crush'd is thy pride: down falls the shrieking beau,
The slabby pavement crystal fragments strow;
Black floods of mire th' embroider'd coat disgrace,
And mud enwraps the honours of his face. . . . .
So when dread Jove the son of Phoebus hurl'd,535
Scar'd with dark thunder, to the nether world,
The headstrong coursers tore the silver reins,
And the sun's beamy ruin gilds the plains.
⁠If the pale walker pant with weak'ning ills,539
His sickly hand is stor'd with friendly bills;
From hence he learns the seventh-born doctor's fame;
From hence he learns the cheapest tailor's name.