Page 289

Matthew Prior. (1664–1721) (continued)

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Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn;
And he alone is bless’d who ne’er was born.

Solomon on the Vanity of the World. Book iii. Line 240.

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A Rechabite poor Will must live,
And drink of Adam’s ale. 1

The Wandering Pilgrim.

John Pomfret. (1667–1703)

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We bear it calmly, though a ponderous woe,
And still adore the hand that gives the blow. 2

Verses to his Friend under Affliction.

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Heaven is not always angry when he strikes,
But most chastises those whom most he likes.

Verses to his Friend under Affliction.

Jonathan Swift. (1667–1745)

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I ’ve often wish’d that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a year;
A handsome house to lodge a friend;
A river at my garden’s end;
A terrace walk, and half a rood
Of land set out to plant a wood.

Imitation of Horace. Book ii. Sat. 6.

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So geographers, in Afric maps,
With savage pictures fill their gaps,
And o’er unhabitable downs
Place elephants for want of towns. 3

Poetry, a Rhapsody.

Note 1.
A cup of cold Adam from the next purling stream.—Tom Brown: Works, vol. iv. p. 11. [back]

Note 2.
See Dryden, Quotation 97. [back]

Note 3.
As geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, and unapproachable bogs.—Plutarch: Theseus. [back]

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