256
SWIFT'S POEMS.
We think you quite mistake the case,
The virtue lies not in the place:
For, though my raillery were true,
A cottage is Wood Park with you.
COME, be content, since out it must,
For Stella has betray'd her trust;
And, whispering, charg'd me not to say
That Mr. Ford was born to day;
Or, if at last I needs must blab it,
According to my usual habit,
She bid me, with a serious face,
Be sure conceal the time and place;
And not my compliment to spoil,
By calling this your native soil;
Or vex the ladies, when they knew
That you are turning forty-two:
But, if these topicks shall appear
Strong arguments to keep you here,
I think, though you judge hardly of it,
Good manners must give place to profit.
- ↑ Dr. Swift had been used to celebrate the birthday of his friend Charles Ford, esq. which was on the first day of January. See also the preceding poem, "Stella at Wood Park." Dr. Delany mentions, among the dean's intimate friends, "Matthew Ford, esq. a man of family and fortune, a fine gentleman, and the best lay scholar of his time and nation."
The
