Page:Trivia (John Gay) to which is added London (Samuel Johnson) (1809).djvu/77

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Well may they rise: while I, whose rustic tongue
Ne’er knew to puzzle right, or varnish wrong;
Spurn'd as a beggar, dreaded as a spy,
Live unregarded, unlamented die.
For what but social guilt the friend endears?—
Who shares Orgilio's crimes, his fortune shares.
But thou, should tempting villainy present
All Marlborough hoarded, or all Villiers spent,
Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy scornful eye,
Nor sell for gold, what gold could never buy—
The peaceful slumber, self-approving day,
Unsullied fame, and conscience ever gay.
'The cheated nation’s happy fav’rites, see!
Mark whom the great caress, who frown on me!
London, the needy villain’s gen'ral home,
The common-sewer of Paris and of Rome;
With eager thirst, by folly or by fate,
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my transports on a theme like this,
I cannot bear a French metropolis.
Illustrious Edward, from the realms of day,
The land of heroes and of saints survey;