London - In Imitation Of The Third Satire Of Juvenal Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AB CDAAEFGGAAHHIIHHAAJJ AAKKLLMMAAAANNOOMMPP JJQQHHRRBBAAHHSSTUVV AAMMMMUUWWXYX AAAAHHZA2TTRRAATTHHR RB2B2AARRHHRRAAHHC2C 2AAHHTTRRXXRRMMAARRM MTTRVVAARRTTXXAAAAD2 D2XXXXAAAATTRRRRE2E2 RRAAAAXXMMXXAAAX

' Quis ineptaeA
Tam patiens urbis tam ferreus ut teneat se ' JuvB
-
Though grief and fondness in my breast rebelC
When injured Thales bids the town farewellD
Yet still my calmer thoughts his choice commendA
I praise the hermit but regret the friendA
Who now resolves from vice and London farE
To breathe in distant fields a purer airF
And fix'd on Cambria's solitary shoreG
Give to St David one true Briton moreG
For who would leave unbribed Hibernia's landA
Or change the rocks of Scotland for the StrandA
There none are swept by sudden fate awayH
But all whom hunger spares with age decayH
Here malice rapine accident conspireI
And now a rabble rages now a fireI
Their ambush here relentless ruffians layH
And here the fell attorney prowls for preyH
Here falling houses thunder on your headA
And here a female atheist talks you deadA
While Thales waits the wherry that containsJ
Of dissipated wealth the small remainsJ
On Thames's banks in silent thought we stoodA
Where Greenwich smiles upon the silver floodA
Struck with the seat that gave Eliza birthK
We kneel and kiss the consecrated earthK
In pleasing dreams the blissful age renewL
And call Britannia's glories back to viewL
Behold her cross triumphant on the mainM
The guard of commerce and the dread of SpainM
Ere masquerades debauch'd excise oppress'dA
Or English honour grew a standing jestA
A transient calm the happy scenes bestowA
And for a moment lull the sense of woeA
At length awakening with contemptuous frownN
Indignant Thales eyes the neighbouring townN
'Since worth he cries in these degenerate daysO
Wants e'en the cheap reward of empty praiseO
In those curs'd walls devote to vice and gainM
Since unrewarded science toils in vainM
Since hope but soothes to double my distressP
And every moment leaves my little lessP
While yet my steady steps no staff sustainsJ
And life still vigorous revels in my veinsJ
Grant me kind Heaven to find some happier placeQ
Where honesty and sense are no disgraceQ
Some pleasing bank where verdant osiers playH
Some peaceful vale with Nature's painting gayH
Where once the harrass'd Briton found reposeR
And safe in poverty defied his foesR
Some secret cell ye powers indulgent giveB
Let live here for has learn'd to liveB
Here let those reign whom pensions can inciteA
To vote a patriot black a courtier whiteA
Explain their country's dear bought rights awayH
And plead for pirates in the face of dayH
With slavish tenets taint our poison'd youthS
And lend a lie the confidence of truthS
Let such raise palaces and manors buyT
Collect a tax or farm a lotteryU
With warbling eunuchs fill a licensed stageV
And lull to servitude a thoughtless ageV
Heroes proceed what bounds your pride shall holdA
What check restrain your thirst of power and goldA
Behold rebellious Virtue quite o'erthrownM
Behold your fame our wealth our lives your ownM
To such a groaning nation's spoils are givenM
When public crimes inflame the wrath of HeavenM
But what my friend what hope remains for meU
Who start at theft and blush at perjuryU
Who scarce forbear though Britain's court he singW
To pluck a titled poet's borrowed wingW
A statesman's logic unconvinc'd can hearX
And dare to slumber o'er theY
GazetteerX
-
Despise a fool in half his pension dress'dA
And strive in vain to laugh at H y's jestA
'Others with softer smiles and subtler artA
Can sap the principles or taint the heartA
With more address a lover's note conveyH
Or bribe a virgin's innocence awayH
Well may they rise while I whose rustic tongueZ
Ne'er knew to puzzle right or varnish wrongA2
Spurn'd as a beggar dreaded as a spyT
Live unregarded unlamented dieT
'For what but social guilt the friend endearsR
Who shares Orgilio's crimes his fortune sharesR
But thou should tempting villainy presentA
All Marlborough hoarded or all Villiers spentA
Turn from the glittering bribe thy scornful eyeT
Nor sell for gold what gold could never buyT
The peaceful slumber self approving dayH
Unsullied fame and conscience ever gayH
'The cheated nation's happy favourites seeR
Mark whom the great caress who frown on meR
London the needy villain's general homeB2
The common sewer of Paris and of RomeB2
With eager thirst by folly or by fateA
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted stateA
Forgive my transports on a theme like thisR
I cannot bear a French metropolisR
'Illustrious Edward from the realms of dayH
The land of heroes and of saints surveyH
Nor hope the British lineaments to traceR
The rustic grandeur or the surly graceR
But lost in thoughtless ease and empty showA
Behold the warrior dwindled to a beauA
Sense freedom piety refined awayH
Of France the mimic and of Spain the preyH
'All that at home no more can beg or stealC2
Or like a gibbet better than a wheelC2
Hiss'd from the stage or hooted from the courtA
Their air their dress their politics importA
Obsequious artful voluble and gayH
On Britain's fond credulity they preyH
No gainful trade their industry can 'scapeT
They sing they dance clean shoes or cure a clapT
All sciences a fasting Monsieur knowsR
And bid him go to hell to hell he goesR
'Ah what avails it that from slavery farX
I drew the breath of life in English airX
Was early taught a Briton's right to prizeR
And lisp the tale of Henry's victoriesR
If the gull'd conqueror receives the chainM
And flattery subdues when arms are vainM
'Studious to please and ready to submitA
The supple Gaul was born a parasiteA
Still to his interest true where'er he goesR
Wit bravery worth his lavish'd tongue bestowsR
In every face a thousand graces shineM
From every tongue flows harmony divineM
These arts in vain our rugged natives tryT
Strain out with faltering diffidence a lieT
And gain a kick for awkward flatteryR
'Besides with justice this discerning ageV
Admires their wondrous talents for the stageV
Well may they venture on the mimic's artA
Who play from morn to night a borrow'd partA
Practis'd their master's notions to embraceR
Repeat his maxims and reflect his faceR
With every wild absurdity complyT
And view each object with another's eyeT
To shake with laughter ere the jest they hearX
To pour at will the counterfeited tearX
And as their patron hints the cold or heatA
To shake in dog days in December sweatA
How when competitors like these contendA
Can surly virtue hope to fix a friendA
Slaves that with serious impudence beguileD2
And lie without a blush without a smileD2
Exalt each trifle every vice adoreX
Your taste in snuff your judgement in a whoreX
Can Balbo's eloquence applaud and swearX
He gropes his breeches with a monarch's airX
'For arts like these preferr'd admired caress'dA
They first invade your table then your breastA
Explore your secrets with insidious artA
Watch the weak hour and ransack all the heartA
Then soon your ill placed confidence repayT
Commence your lords and govern or betrayT
'By numbers here from shame or censure freeR
All crimes are safe but hated povertyR
This only this the rigid law pursuesR
This only this provokes the snarling museR
The sober trader at a tatter'd cloakE2
Wakes from his dream and labours for a jokeE2
With brisker air the silken courtiers gazeR
And turn the varied taunt of a thousand waysR
Of all the griefs that harass the distress'dA
Sure the most bitter is a scornful jestA
Fate never wounds more deep the generous heartA
Than when a blockhead's insult points the dartA
'Has Heaven reserved in pity to the poorX
No pathless waste or undiscover'd shoreX
No secret island in the boundless mainM
No peaceful desert yet unclaim'd by SpainM
Quick let us rise the happy seats exploreX
And bear oppression's insolence no moreX
This mournful truth is everywhere confess'dA
Slow rises worth by poverty depress'dA
But here more slow where all are slaves to goldA
Where looks areX

Samuel Johnson



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