Page:The Poetical Works of Elijah Fenton (1779).djvu/44

So charm'd you were, you ceas'd a while to dote 25
On nonsense, gargled in an eunuch's throat;
All pleas'd to hear the chatt'ring monsters speak,
As old wives wonder at the parson's Greek.
Such light ragoûts and mushrooms may be good
To whet your appetites for wholesome food; 30
But the bold Briton ne'er in earnest dines
Without substantial haunches and sirloins:
In wit as well as war they give us vigour;
Cressy was lost by kickshaws and soup-meagre.
Instead of light deserts and luscious froth, 35
Our poet treats to-night with Spartan broth,
To which, as well as all his former feasts,
The ladies are the chief-invited guests.
Crown'd with a kind of Glastonbury bays,
That bloom amid the winter of his days, 40
He comes, ambitious in his green decline,
To consecrate his wreath at Beauty's shrine.
His Oroonoko never fail'd t'engage
The radiant circles of the former age:
Each bosom heav'd, all eyes were seen to flow, 45
And sympathize with Isabella's woe;
But Fate reserv'd, to crown his elder fame,
The brightest audience for the Spartan dame. 48