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VIRGIL IN LONDON;

OR,

TOWN ECLOGUES.

TO WHICH ARE ADDED,

IMITATIONS OF HORACE.

FIRST PRINTED IN THE YEAR 1814.

THIRD EDITION.

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Lady. WHAT! Virgil in London ?-'twill never

go down

He'll meet but a sorry reception in town;

His manners are coarse, and his language, you know
(As Dryden translates), is exceedingly low;
An old fashion'd poet, whose obsolete rhymes
Will ne'er suit the taste of these whimsical times;
Unlike Thomas Little, all pathos and passion,
A Bard, that, I'm sure, will be always in fashion!
But what hieroglyphics are these that I see ?
Lord F— with a dash, and the Countess of D.
No scandal, I hope.-

Author.

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Not a stroke of ill-nature,

All sober hilarity, good-humour'd satire ;

My Muse, no prim quakeress, straight, and tightlac'd

Will, I hope, prove a nymph to your Ladyship's

taste.

Lady. But why thus confine your poetical rage? Give scope to your talents, and write for the stage; 'Tis a second-hand task o'er the classics to pore, And Virgil has had his translators before. Author. The Stage!-'twere in vain for your poet to try,

No half-witted melo-dramatist am I.

Lady. Write a poem in Erse

Author.

And provoke the Reviews!

What! rival the chaste Caledonian Muse?

Ludy. Then conjure up Spirits, and boldly advance

A champion for fame in the field of Romance; Try Politics-they've been the fashion of late!— Turn critic-but ne'er condescend to translate.

Author. Though pedants may rail, though the learned may frown,

Still Virgil shall make his appearance in town.
A masquerade, pic-nic, a grand city ball,

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