Volume Ii Part 56 (1/2)
'Twill appear to your cost, you are fairly trepann'd, For the chord of your circle is now in their hand.
The chord, or the radius, it matters not whether, By which your jade Pegasus, fix'd in a tether, As his betters are used, shall be lash'd round the ring, Three fellows with whips, and the Dean holds the string.
Will Hanc.o.c.k declares, you are out of your compa.s.s, To encroach on his art by writing of bombast; And has taken just now a firm resolution To answer your style without circ.u.mlocution.
Lady Betty[2] presents you her service most humble, And is not afraid your wors.h.i.+p will grumble, That she make of your verses a hoop for Miss Tam.[3]
Which is all at present; and so I remain--
[Footnote 1: There were four human figures in the centre of the circular verses.--_F._]
[Footnote 2: Daughter of the Earl of Drogheda, and married to George Rochfort, Esq.--_F._]
[Footnote 3: Miss Thomason, Lady Betty's daughter, then, perhaps, about a year old; afterwards married to Gustavus Lambert, Esq., of Paynstown, in the county of Meath.--_Scott._]
ON DR. SHERIDAN'S CIRCULAR VERSES BY MR. GEORGE ROCHFORT
With music and poetry equally blest, A bard thus Apollo most humbly addrest: ”Great author of harmony, verses, and light!
a.s.sisted by thee, I both fiddle and write.
Yet unheeded I sc.r.a.pe, or I scribble all day, My verse is neglected, my tunes thrown away.
Thy subst.i.tute here, Vice Apollo, disdains To vouch for my numbers, or list to my strains; Thy manual signet refuses to put To the airs I produce from the pen or the gut.
Be thou then propitious, great Phoebus! and grant Relief, or reward, to my merit, or want.
Though the Dean and Delany transcendently s.h.i.+ne, O brighten one solo or sonnet of mine!
With them I'm content thou shouldst make thy abode; But visit thy servant in jig or in ode; Make one work immortal: 'tis all I request.”
Apollo look'd pleased; and, resolving to jest, Replied, ”Honest friend, I've consider'd thy case; Nor dislike thy well-meaning and humorous face.
Thy pet.i.tion I grant: the boon is not great; Thy works shall continue; and here's the receipt.
On rondeaus hereafter thy fiddle-strings spend: Write verses in circles: they never shall end.”
ON DAN JACKSON'S PICTURE, CUT IN SILK AND PAPER[1]
To fair Lady Betty Dan sat for his picture, And defied her to draw him so oft as he piqued her, He knew she'd no pencil or colouring by her, And therefore he thought he might safely defy her.
Come sit, says my lady; then whips up her scissar, And cuts out his c.o.xcomb in silk in a trice, sir.
Dan sat with attention, and saw with surprise How she lengthen'd his chin, how she hollow'd his eyes; But flatter'd himself with a secret conceit, That his thin lantern jaws all her art would defeat.
Lady Betty observed it, then pulls out a pin, And varies the grain of the stuff to his grin: And, to make roasted silk to resemble his raw-bone, She raised up a thread to the jet of his jaw-bone; Till at length in exactest proportion he rose, From the crown of his head to the arch of his nose; And if Lady Betty had drawn him with wig and all, 'Tis certain the copy had outdone the original.
Well, that's but my outside, says Dan, with a vapour; Say you so? says my lady; I've lined it with paper.
PATR. DELANY _sculpsit_.
[Footnote 1: See vol. i, p. 96. Dan Jackson's nose seems to have been a favourite subject for raillery, as in this and some following pieces.--_W. E. B._]
ON THE SAME PICTURE
Clarissa draws her scissars from the case To draw the lines of poor Dan Jackson's face; One sloping cut made forehead, nose, and chin, A nick produced a mouth, and made him grin, Such as in tailor's measure you have seen.