ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Production Note
Project Unica
Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign 20154}'flit
A
o
J
Infcribd to the Thresher
Occaiiond by
Stephen Duck’s Shmamite, &c.
nd Her Majefty’s difHnguiihing that Performance, &c. with her Bounty, and the POET with her Royal Favour and Patronage.
hen Nature do’s deilgn ionie wondrous th ng,
Honos AUt Aitar,
Printed for the Author
173°*X 3AJ
To Mr. DUCK.
SIR,	■	>
If ^ O R fo the Laurels you deiervedly now wear,. and | 1 the Royal Favour bid me Style you; l fend you here a. frn ill and inconsiderable tribute ot Gratitude, one cftbe iirft ( 1 apprehend ) of the. Poetical kind, for wtyour great and ib long conceald Genius has.oblig’d,the World with : He mull have a good ihare of fuch. a Genius, that can do it Juffcice in Verlq, mine alafs is not equal to fuch an Attempt, and fuch a Subject .: But one thing 1 will attempt, and i blatter my felt l lhallbe excuiable in it, the encouraging you to attempt an Epic Poem on the McJJiab, to to wch in theConclufioi) ofyour Verfe.s, your Apologie to your Patron before you were happy and diftinguiihd by a Royal one, youfeemd inclind. . Periue that Inclination, the Subjedt is, Noble and Sublime, and the lame Mule, that inlpird you in the Shmam.itand the ihrejher s Labour ( I know not whether interior to it or not) or the fame God Incarnate ( fuch your Divine drains lpeak your Affidant) will not lutfer the lacred Fire to Die, nor is there much likelihood of your milcarrying in inch an Attempt, wn he himfelf is the Theme, and you the. Poet, wn he inlpires, and you Write. .
Then.;Then celebrate his Birth ( the pious, and folemn Commemoration of which Approaches ) in Vede, but not in liich as you fee 1 have venture! to do it in ; and not onh his /Birth, butthe whole Jelus and Redeemer from the Manager to the Crofs, from the circumitauces of his lowed Humiliation on Earth to thole ofhis higheft Exaltation in the Kingdom of Heaven at die Right hand of God ; You-ow the Smiles, the Bounty and Favour of your Royal Patron to his; A jf vcPriicipum is not only Religion in the Poetic but the Chriftianr. Syltem, and the Ma jetty of the f xjxibn^ by whom you enjoy fo agreeable a Change of Situation" would be lets facred and venerable, cd ihe, be deemd capable of envying her Saviour and her Prince as well as yours and mine Precedence in the Poets Praifes,or of think-ing them in fo proper a place Derogatory from her Own for wch there is a large field opens to you hereafter.
Go on to ihrefh-out Poetry with more Profit, and bet-
__....	«	? * •* s	‘	-	-
ter	bigi	?s than you did Corn		; the	Barn be	any	; fo much
more	Commodious for vour		i-	Lind,	and R.tcb	mo	d memó-
ruble	for	the Redden re of a	P<	net an	d Threfh	w :	as wreli as
a Kin	;;U	o k-k r—-* CD c	Vv	ill env	y the Fei	[idi	tv of the
one.	11 ] 0	few reach the Get	111	m an-	r] emu-vv	■j y	J of the o-
th r	it a	. humbledilb e:.; A	. ¡n wch		trie iOilo	J, V/ll	ig' V cries
are A	j . 1 a a]	eisd to you by					
				v., j. O H	■ever un!	mo	wnr r 5)
^Upon Stephen Duck, the Threfher
WHO e’er looks thro’ the ftate of Humane Things,
And cooly fearches all their ferret Springs, In all the various Scenes he’l chance to lee From Pomp of Kings to Poet’s Poverty,
Honor will find, not ftrippd of other views,
The Nurfe of Arts, and Guardian of the Mufe, Not meagre Fame alone, another Prize Gain glitters Hill in the Perluer’s Eyes:
AND HIS
B
Poets,C 6 )i
How clofe fo e?er you ftudy Nautic Card,' And feck, by Learning for the Task prepare!, £ Wt finds the Longitude* is the Reward ;	/
Poets, who Immortality can give,
E’er hoped Returnsj ftill greater to receive, •
More folid, and fubftantial than a Name,
The airy Prai% and empty. .Breath of Fame* %
They live not like Camelcons on the Air
With Purfe of lplendid Shilling, minds 'qf care
Thus Lifebright Day,or dark and tedious Nigh The Hours by forrow cloggdt or by Delight Qu ickend, by Wine and Mirth poli fwiftly on, And their Verfe fmooth or heavily will run.
Profperous and Exil’d Najo different look, And wn he write* De Triftibus, the Book Dull as his Subject is, what Ccefars ire Kindled, at once extinguiihd all his Fire;
Voyd, as that bids, infpires they live and write *
Exile!E#ile! a gloomy melancholy Thing,
In ¡other■: Strains he’d CaJ'ars Favours ling;
The Mufe th’ unhappy Poet’s Fate partakes, Flaggs as he droops, wn Elegies he makes, Defcribing mid.B its Wave’s the Ocean’s Rage,
( But deems it harder CafarV. to. ail wage ) , Arduous the. Task in numbers to rehearfe,
How much his Grief is Wronger than his Verfe : How Metamorpbosd now himfelf i how ftrange The Power could thus the Theme and Poet change, How mean and fpiritleis each artlefs Line,
In nothing, Najo, but its lubjed Thine!
No wonder Virgil in Heroic Lays,
Catfars, or Horace his MecaenaPs Praife,
In t-y ric lung,.both for the Task prepard '
By: Ccefars lmiles the happy Poets lhard,
From thefe more than from Heliconian Bream They drew the Brains adornd the glorious Theme,
B .2 .	ReadV
(8 ;
f Read where you will, the Patron all along Shines in the Bard, and animates the Song.
But who Divine, fublime, and lofty ft rains-, E’er dreamdthus flowing from theThrefher’s Brains He ftrikes with wonder the Poetic Tribe,
While without Art he dos himfelf defcribe In Verfe above himfelf, his ruftic Toil,
The Threiher to the Poet ftill a Foil.
But from a Geni#us, Duck, fo great asThine, We great and ftill more wondrous Things Divine, From thee, and from a Mufe, yt cd in lpite Of flings of Poverty its Praifes write,
Make it look in 1 he humbleft Cottage great, Shining in Raggs, -and bleisd in Honeft Sweat.
Some thing Diviner than Poetic Art,
The Prophet lure did Something then impart, Sure fomething of himfelf, that lacred Fire,
Weh dos from Heav’n Prophetic minds infpire,
When( 9 )
When thou didil: ling the Shunctmite's blefsd Fatc^
Jn God s as in the Prophet’s Favour great,
Akin the Goodnefs Teems, that both did blefs, Relievd Thy Poverty, and her Diftrefs.
Thou ev’n in Poverty, couldft think, and write. The Flayl thy Day, the Pen employd thy Night, Brighter thy Genius with thy Fortune’s grown, Who others Corn did Threfh, canft Tow thy own, That now ennobles, wch rewards thy Mule,
The Royal Bounty dos new Life infufe,
New Spirit and Majefty into thy Verfe,
In which wn e’er its Wonders you Rehearfe,
The Patron’s fmiles will farm the Poets Fire,
And the Mule ioar, which fuch Rewards infpire.
Blefsd and furprizing Change the World muft think
•Of Flay 1 and Scyth for Books and Penn and Ink,(10 )
A Change mtiff iuit^ a thought full Genius p!eaie,\ / The Thrdher's Labour for the Foeth eric,
Blefsd with the Smiles and Favours of the Court,, Free from its Nolfe, and fafe in its Support i < Here no hard Task Maker in ruffle way,
The Labour lets of each fucceiiive Day,
Bids you a certain Time of riling keep,,
And meafares out with /paring hand your deep, Not fo your Work, the Work, by well you were His Barns to fill, aiid empty every Yeah.
Chatigd is the Scene, and Different the Task,
And noneimppsd, but wt kwere evA to ask.
Flea ling, as to command is Wife arid juft,
Wt may preferve from Barrennefs and Ruff A fprightly and exalted Genius ——
Had Poverty no Rings Were ftrartge arid odd, t ex bus Hid fail,his Bard, or Homer Nod,
% Wis Hagg-rid fometimes his Spirits funk, det had he for thin Helicon but Drunk .
TP:(li )
m g enerous Juice of Grape, Fatemian Wine, ^
I had given new Strength and Luftre to each* Line,	)
Like its God's cheerful Face had made it ihine.
A different Fate thy happy Mufe attends,
2blefsd with noble and with Royal Friends, Ko longer thou dolt Threfh, or Piow or Sow,
Nor ruiUcand inglorious fweat fhall now,
But Lawrels hill adorn thy glorious Brow ;
The winnowing’s come, a begging Mufe at Door, That craves the Sweepings of the Threilier’s Floor»-Kow with leis Labour than thou Threih’dft thy Corn
(Only a Threiher made, but Poet Born)
1 hy felf art Winnowd from the worthlefs Chaff,
In Royal Favour lodgd lecure and fife;
From the famd forkd Tarmjfus Lofty Brow,
Kind looks on labouring Brothers then bellow,
Poets, and I hrelhers in the Vale below;
G 2 -	There e( »2 )
There thou mayft Threih out Verfe, a pleafing /	Toil,
And who can barren e’er iufpeT the Soil,
On which the -Sun of Royal Bounty {bines,
Or Dull, wn fuch a Mufe inipires, the Lines ? There thou the Mufes fecrets mayft explore,
Nor dig in vain for rich Poetic ore, jSuch as thy Grandfire Shake s-fy ear found before.
r ¿ince facred Things, and facred Themes require Tofuit thy pious Taft, diviner Fire,
Thine be Mejjiah, and he all along That is thy ¿object will infpire thy ¿ong .*
Born in a ¿'table, in a Manger layd,
{ Humble Foundations he of Empire made )
He who,tho’ o’er both Heav’n and Earth he reign-d, Yet not tire mean ignoble ftyle difdaind*
Of
‘ v /'
f 13 i
Of Son of Carpenter, or Shepherd’s name,
( Honor to both, which all the Tongues of Fame Could ne’er to mod exalted Mortals give,
Nor Man, but from the Son of God receive,) HeTdeign to hear as to infpirethy Lays,
And in the Ihreiher’s drains accept the Threfher’s
\
i
Verfes occafiond bv the Si^ht of Mr. Duck's Picture in the Frontifpiece of his POE M S.
By the fame Hand.
T Trange Scene [ in one Hand .Mihw7 and the ^ Flayl	4
In th’ other, eontrarys can n’t both prevail,
■!)\
( h )	:«
The one muft yield at laft, and Nature will, Howe’er opposd fhew, (lie is Nature hill:
Thy fprightly Genius, 'Duck, hasforcd its way From Poverty’s dark Cave to Light and Day ;
If Difobedience to Parents muft,
Be ever deemd excuiable, or Juft,
Such lure then was, fuch .wond’rous Youth wasThlne if one, A Rebel hill by Right Divine.
The Mule bid thee threfh, Verie, thy Afother Com, Thou, that e’er both cd threfh the hrft A/anborn,
A Royal A/other deigns to end the Strife,
Bids Miltons Labour, and Poetic Life,
Bids the Remainder of thy peaceful Days,
While thine is the, Reward, and her’s the Praife, Let Verfe immortalize thy. Gratitude,
While no bold, lawcy Critic, dares intrude, i a cenlure fprings, that Sovereign Goodneis -move, Wt jD'*c/c fhall write, and Caroline approve \ ■ ■
Then.1
Then fing her Praife, while thou to Ting haft Breath, The Mule her Name and thine reprieve from Death,
Till the iamd Thame ft s forgets to flow,	''j
Till Laurels.other Hue than Green ihall know, , And Richmond too herfelf inglorious grow, * Richmond the Royal, and the A/ufes feat Famd for.a ThreiherYand a Queen’s Retreat,
Till Fame, herfelf her hundred Tongues (hall loie* , And lofty Numbers yield to humble Froie,
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