Page:Trivia (John Gay) to which is added London (Samuel Johnson) (1809).djvu/63

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Yet rather bear the show'r, and toils of mud,
Than in the doubtful quarrel risk thy blood. . . .
O think on Oedipus’ detested state,215
And by his woes be warn'd to shun thy fate.—
Where three roads join’d he met his sire unknown
(Unhappy sire! but more unhappy son!)
Each claim'd the way: their swords the strife decide:
The hoary monarch fell; he groan'd, and died!220
Hence sprung the fatal plague that thinn'd thy reign,
Thy cursed incest! and thy children slain!
Hence wert thou doom'd in endless night to stray
Through Theban streets, and cheerless grope thy way.
Contemplate, mortal! on thy fleeting years:225
See, with black train, the funeral pomp appears!
Whether some heir attends in sable state,
And mourns with outward grief a parent's fate;
Or the fair virgin, nipp'd in beauty's bloom,
A crowd of lovers follows to her tomb;230
Why is the hearse with 'scutcheons blazon'd round,
And with the nodding plume of ostrich crown'd?
No; the dead know it not, nor profit gain:
It only serves to prove the living vain.