From whence 'tis plain, the diadem
That princes wear derives from them :
And therefore crowns are now-a-days
Adorn'd with golden ftars and rays;
Which plainly shews the near alliance
'Twixt cobling and the planet fcience.
Befides, that flow-pac'd fign Boötes,
As 'tis mifcall'd, we know not who 'tis :
But Partridge ended all disputes;
He knew his trade, and call'd it boots.
The horned moon, which heretofore
Upon their fhoes the Romans wore,
Whose wideness kept their toes from corns,
And whence we claim our fhoeing-horns,
Shews how the art of cobling bears
A near resemblance to the spheres.
A fcrap of parchment hung by geometry,
(A great refiner in barometry)
Can, like the ftars, foretell the weather;
And what is parchment elfe but leather?
Which an aftrologer might ufe
Either for almanacks or fhoes.
Thus Partridge, by his wit and parts,
At once did practise both these arts:
And as the boding owl (or rather
The bat, because her wings are leather)
Steals from her private cell by night,
And flies about the candle-light;
So learned Partridge could as well
Creep in the dark from leathern cell,
And in his fancy fly as far,
To peep upon a twinkling ftar.
Befides, he could confound the fpheres,
And fet the planets by the ears;
To shew his skill, he Mars could join
To Venus in aspect malign;
Then call in Mercury for aid,
And cure the wounds that Venus made.
Great fcholars have in Lucian read,
When Philip king of Greece was dead,
His foul and fpirit did divide,
And each part took a different fide:
One rose a star; the other fell
Beneath, and mended fhoes in hell.
Thus Partridge ftill fhines in each art,
The cobling and ftar-gazing part,
And is inftall'd as good a ftar
As any of the Cæfars are.
Triumphant star! fome pity fhow
On coblers militant below,
Whom roguish boys, in ftormy nights,
Torment by piffing out their lights,
Or through a chink convey their smoke,
Inclos'd artificers to choke.
Thou, high exalted in thy fphere,
May'ft follow ftill thy calling there.
To thee the Bull will lend his hide,
By Phoebus newly tann'd and dry'd:
For thee they Argo's hulk will tax,
And scrape her pitchy fides for wax:
Then Ariadne kindly lends
Her braided hair to make thee ends;
The points of Sagittarius' dart
Turns to an awl by heavenly art;
And Vulcan, wheedled by his wife,
Will forge for thee a paring knife.
For want of room by Virgo's fide,
She'll strain a point, and fit aftride,
To take thee kindly in between ;
And then the figns will be thirteen,
HERE, five feet deep, lies on his back
A cobler, ftarmonger, and quack;
Who, to the stars in pure good-will,
Does to his best look upward ftill,
Weep, all you cuftomers that use
His pills, his almanacks, or fhoes:
And you that did your fortune feek,
Step to his grave but once a week;
This earth, which bears his body's print,
You'll find had fo much virtue in't,
That I durft pawn my ears, 'twill tell,
Whate'er concerns you full as well,
In phyfick, ftolen-goods, or love,
As he himself could, when above,
SEVEN and ten, addyd to nine,
Of Fraunce her woe this is the sygne,
Tamys rivere twys y-frozen,
Walke fans wetyng shoes ne hozen.
Then comyth foorthe, ich understonde,
From towne of ftoffe to fattyn londe,
An hardy chiftan *, woe the morne,
To Fraunce that evere he was born.
Then shall the fyshe † beweyle his boffe :
Nor fhall grin berrys make up the loffe.
Yonge Symnele || fhall again mifcarrye :
And Norways pryd § again shall marrey.
And from the tree where blofums feele,
Rife fruit fhall come, and all is wele.
Reaums fhall daunce honde in honde *
And it shall be merye in olde Inglonde,
Then old Inglonde fhall be no more,
And no man fhall be forie therefore.
Geryon ††fhall have three hedes agayne, Till Hapfburge‡‡ makyth them but twayne.
NOW hardly here and there a hackney-coach
Appearing, fhew'd the ruddy morn's approach.
Now Betty from her master's bed had flown,
And foftly stole to difcompofe her own;
The flipfhod 'prentice from his master's door
Had par'd the dirt, and sprinkled round the floor.
Now Moll had whirl'd her mop with dextrous airs,
Prepar'd to fcrub the entry and the stairs.
++ A king of Spain flain by Hercules.
The Archduke Charles was of the Hapfburg family.
The youth with broomy ftumps began to trace
The kennel's edge, where wheels had worn the place.
The fmall-coal-man was heard with cadence deep,
Till drown'd in fhriller notes of chimney-fweep:
Duns at his Lordship's gate began to meet;
And brick-duft Moll had fcream'd through half the ftreet.
The turnkey now his flock returning fees,
Duly let out a-nights to fteal for fees:
The watchful bailiffs take their filent ftands,
And school-boys lag with fatchels in their hands.
In Imitation of Virgil's Georgics. 1710.
CAREFUL obfervers may foretel the hour, (By fure prognoftics) when to dread a fhower, While rain depends, the penfive cat gives o'er Her frolicks, and pursues her tail no more. Returning home at night, you'll find the fink Strike your offended fenfe with double stink.
you be wife, then go not far to dine; You'll fpend in coach-hire more than fave in wine. A coming fhower your fhooting corns prefage, Old aches will throb, your hollow tooth will rage; Sauntering in coffee-houfe is Dulman feen; He damns the climate, and complains of fpleen. Meanwhile the fouth, rifing with dabbled wings, A fable cloud athwart the welkin flings,
|