Bent on some mortgage (to avoid reproach) Columns with plain magnificence appear,
He seeks by.streets, and saves th' expensive coach. And graceful porches lead along the square :
Soft, at low doors, old lechers tap their cane, Here oft my course I bend; when, lo! from far
For fair recluse, who travels Drury-lane ; I spy the furies of the foot-ball war:
Here roams uncomb'd the lavish rake, to shun The prentice quits his shop, to join the crew,
His Fleet-street draper's everlasting dun.

Increasing crowds the flying game pursue.
Careful observers, sludious of the town, Thus, as you roll the ball o'er snowy ground,
Shun the misfortunes that disgrace the clown; The gathering globe augments with every round.
Untempted, they contemn the juggler's feats, But whither shall I run? the throng draws nigh,
Pass by the Meuse, nor try the thimble's cheats ;* The ball now skims the street, now soars on high;
When drays bound high, they never cross behind, The dextrous glazier strong returns the bound,
Where bubbling yest is blown by gusts of wind : And jingling sashes on the penthouse sound.
And when up Ludgate-hill huge carts move slow, 0, roving Muse! recall what wondrous year,
Far from the straining steeds securely go,

When Winter reign'd in bleak Britannia's air ;
Whose dashing hoofs behind them Aing the mire, When hoary Thames, with frosted osiers crown'd,
And mark with muddy blots the gazing 'squire. Was three long moons in icy felters bound.
The Parthian thus his javelin backward throws, The waterman, forlorn, along the shore,
And as he flies infests pursuing foes.

Pensive reclines upon his useless oar;
The thoughtless wits shall frequent forfeits pay, See harness'd steeds desert the siony town,
Who 'gainst the sentry's box discharge their tea.

And wander roads unstable, not their own;
Do thou some court or secret corner seek,

Wheels o'er the harden'd waters smoothly glide, Nor flush with shame the passing virgin's cheek. And rase with whiten'd tracks the slippery tide; Yet let me not descend to trivial song,

Here the fat cook piles high the blazing fire, Nor vulgar circumstance my verse prolong. And scarce the spit can turn the steer entire ; Why should I teach the maid, when torrents pour, Booths sudden hide the Thames, long streets appear, Her head to shelter from the sudden shower? And numerous games proclaim the crowded fair. Nature will best her ready hand inform,

So, when a general bids the martial train With her spread petticoat to fence the storm. Spread their encampment o'er the spacious plain; Does not each walker know the warning sign, Thick rising tents a canvas city build, When wisps of straw depend upon the twine And the loud dice resound through all the field. Cross the close street, that then the paver's art 'Twas here the matron found a doleful fate : Renews the ways, denied to coach and cart? Let elegiac lay the woe relate, Who knows not that the coachman lashing by Soft as the breath of distant flutes, at hours Oft with his flourish cuts the heedless eye; When silent evening closes up the flowers ; And when he takes his stand, to wait a fare, Lulling as falling water's hollow noise; His horses' foreheads shun the Winter's air? Indulging grief, like Philomela's voice. Nor will I roam where Summer's sultry rays Doll every day had walk'd these treacherous Parch the dry ground, and spread with dust the

roads ; ways;

Her neck grew warpt beneath autumnal loads With whirling gusts the rapid atoms rise,

of various fruit: she now a basket bore; Smoke o'er the pavement, and involve the skies. That head, alas! shall basket bear no more.

Winter my theme confines; whose nitry wind Each booth she frequent past, in quest of gain, Shall crust the slabby mire, and kennels bind; And boys with pleasure heard her shrilling strain. She bids the snow descend in flaky sheets, Ah, Doll! all mortals must resign their breath, And in her hoary mantle clothe the streets. And industry itself submit to death! Let not the virgin tread these slippery roads, The cracking crystal yields; she sinks, she dies, The gathering fleece the hollow patten loads ; Her head, chopt off, from her lost shoulders flies; But if thy footsteps slide with clotted frost, Pippins she cried; but death her voice confounds, Strike off the breaking balls against the post. And pip-pip-pip along the ice resounds. On silent wheels the passing coaches roll;

So, when the Thracian furies Orpheus tore, Oft look behind, and ward the threatening pole.

And left his bleeding trunk deform'd with gore, In harden'd orbs the school-boy moulds the snow,

His sever'd head floats down the silver tide, To mark the coachman with a dextrous throw. His yet warm tongue for his lost consort cried ; Why do ye, boys, the kennel's surface spread, Euridice with quivering voice he mourn'd, To tempt with faithless path the matron's tread? And Heber's banks Euridice return'd. How can you laugh to sce the damsel spurn, But now the western gale the flood unbinds, Sink in your frauds, and her green stocking mourn ? And blackening clouds move on with warmer winds; At White's the harness'd chairman idly stands, The wooden town its frail foundation leaves, And swings around his waist his tingling hands;

And Thames' full urn rolls down his plenteous The sempstress speeds to Change with red-tipt nose;

waves ; The Belgian stove beneath her footstool glows; From every penthouse streams the fleeting snow, In half-whipt muslin needles useless lie,

And with dissolving frost the pavements flow. And shuttle-cocks across the counter fly, [prove, Experienc'd men, inur’d to city ways, These sports warm harmless; why then will ye Need not the calendar to count their days. Deluded maids, the dangerous flame of love ? When through the town, with slow and solemn air

Where Covent-garden's famous temple stands, Led by the nostril, walks the muzzled bear; That boasts the work of Jones' immortal hands; Behind him moves, majestically dull,

The pride of Hockley-hole, the surly bull. * A cheat commonly practised in the streets with three Learn hence the periods of the week to name, thimbles and a little ball.

Mondays and Thursdays are the days of game.

Volumes on shelter'd stalls expanded lie, Summon at once thy courage, rouse thy care, And various science lures the learned eye;

Stand firm, look back, be resolute, beware. The bending shelves with ponderous scholiasts Forth issuing from steep lanes, the collier's steeds groan,

Drag the black load ; another cart succeeds; And deep divines, to modern shops unknown; Team follows team, crowds heap'd on crowds appear, Here, like the bee, that on industrious wing And wait impatient till the road grow clear. Collects the various odors of the Spring,

Now all the pavement sounds with tramping feet, Walkers at leisure, learning's flowers may spoil, And the mix'd hurry barricades the street. Nor watch the wasting of the midnight oil; Entangled here, the wagon's lengthen'd team May morals snatch from Plutarch's tatter'd page, Cracks the tough harness; here a ponderous beam A mildew'd Bacon, or Stagyra's sage :

Lies overturn'd athwart; for slaughter fed, Here sauntering prentices o'er Otway weep, Here lowing bullocks raise their horned head. O'er Congreve smile, or over D'Urfey sleep; Now oaths grow loud, with coaches coaches jar, Pleas'd semptresses the Lock’s fam'd Rape unfold; And the smart blow provokes the sturdy war; And Squirts* read Garth, till a pozems grow cold. From the high box they whirl the thong around, O Lintot ! let my labors obvious lie,

And with the twining lash their shins resound: Rang'd on thy stall, for every curious eye! Their rage ferments, more dangerous wounds they So shall the poor these precepts gratis know,

try, And to my verse their future safeties owe. And the blood gushes down their painful eye.

What walker shall his mean ambition fix And now on foot the frowning warriors light, On the false lustre of a coach and six ?

And with their ponderous fists renew the fight; Let the vain virgin, lur'd by glaring show, Blow answers blow, their cheeks are smear'd with Sigh for the liveries of th' embroider'd beau.

blood, See yon bright chariot on its braces swing, Till down they fall, and grappling roll in mud. With Flanders mares, and on an arched spring. So, when two boars, in wild Ytene * bred, That wretch, to gain an equipage and place, Or on Westphalia's fattening chestnuts fed, Betray'd his sister to a lewd embrace ;

Gnash their sharp tusks, and, rous’d with equal fire, This coach, that with the blazon'd 'scutcheon glows, Dispute the reign of some luxurious mire ; Vain of his unknown race, the coxcomb shows. In the black flood they wallow o'er and o'er, Here the brib'd lawyer, sunk in velvet, sleeps ; Till their arm'd jaws distil with foam and gore. The starving orphan, as he passes, weeps ;

Where the mob gathers, swiftly shoot along, There flames a fool, begirt with tinsel slaves, Nor idly mingle in the noisy throng: Who wastes the wealth of a whole race of knaves; Lur'd by the silver hilt, amid the swarm, That other, with a clustering train behind, The subtle artist will thy side disarm. Owes his new honors to a sordid mind!

Nor is the flaxen wig with safety worn; This next in courl-fidelity excels,

High on the shoulder, in a basket borne, The public rifles, and his country sells.

Lurks the sly boy, whose hand, to rapine bred, May the proud chariot never be my fate,

Plucks off the curling bonors of thy head. If purchas'd at so mean, so dear a rate!

Here dives the skulking thief, with practis'd sleight, Or rather give me sweet content on foot,

And unfelt fingers make thy pocket light. Wrapt in my virtue, and a good surtout!

Where's now the watch, with all its trinkets, flown?

And thy late snuff-box is no more thy own.
BOOK III.

But, lo! his bolder thefts some tradesman spies,

Swift from his prey the scudding lurcher flies; of walking the Streets by Night.

Dext'rous he 'scapes the coach with nimble bounds, O TRIVIA, goddess ! leave these low abodes, Whilst every honest tongue “stop thief!" resounds And traverse o'er the wide ethereal roads ; So speeds the wily fox, alarm'd by fear, Celestial queen! put on thy robes of light, Who lately filch'd the turkey's callow care ; Now Cynthia nam’d, fair regent of the night. Hounds following hounds grow louder as he flies, At sight of thee, the villain sheathes his sword, And injur'd tenants join the hunter's cries. Nor scales the wall, to steal the wealthy hoard. Breathless, he stumbling falls. Ill-fated boy! O may thy silver lamp from Heaven's high bower Why did not honest work thy youth employ! Direct my footsteps in the midnight hour!

Seiz'd by rough hands, he's dragg'd amid the roun When Night first bids the twinkling stars appear, and stretch'd beneath the pump's incessant spout Or with her cloudy vest enwraps the air, Or plung’d in miry ponds, he gasping lies, Then swarms the busy street; with caution tread, Mud chokes his mouth, and plasters o'er his eyes. Where the shop-windows † falling threat thy head; Let not the ballad-singer's shrilling strain Now laborers home return, and join their strength Amid the swarm thy listening ear detain : To bear the tottering plank, or ladder's length; Guard well thy pocket; for these Syrens stand Still fix thy eyes intent upon the throng,

To aid the labors of the diving hand; And, as the passes, open, wind along.

Confederate in the cheat, they draw the throng, Where the fair columns of St. Clement stand, And cambric handkerchiefs reward the song. Whose straiten'd bounds encroach upon the Strand; But soon as coach or cart drive rattling on, Where the low penthouse bows the walker's head, The rabble part, in shoals they backward run. And the rough pavement wounds the yielding tread ; So Jove's loud bolts the mingled war divide, Where not a post protects the narrow space, And Greece and Troy retreat on either side. And, strung in twines, combs dangle in thy face; If the rude throng pour on with furious pace,

And hap to break thee from a friend's embrace, * An apothecary's hoy, in the Dispensary. A species of window now almost forgotten. N.

* New-Forest in Hampshire, anciently so called.

Stop short; nor struggle through the crowd in vain,
But watch with careful eye the passing train.
Yet I, (perhaps too fond,) if chance the tide
Tumultuous bear my partner from my side,
Impatient venture back; despising harm,
I force my passage where the thickest swarm.
Thus his lost bride the Trojan sought in vain
Through night, and arms, and flames, and hills of May where the chairman rests with safety tread;
slain.
Whene'er I pass, their poles (unseen below)
Make my knee tremble with a jarring blow.

The laws have set him bounds; his servile feet
Should ne'er encroach where posts defend the street
Yet who the footman's arrogance can quell,
Whose flambeau gilds the sashes of Pall-Mall,
When in long rank a train of torches flame,
To light the midnight visits of the dame?
Others, perhaps, by happier guidance led,

If wheels bar up the road, where streets are crost,
With gentle words the coachman's ear accost:
He ne'er the threat or harsh command obeys,
But with contempt the spatter'd shoe surveys.
Now man with utmost fortitude thy soul,
To cross the way where carts and coaches roll;
Yet do not in thy hardy skill confide,
Nor rashly risk the kennel's spacious stride;
Stay till afar the distant wheel you hear,
Like dying thunder in the breaking air;
Thy foot will slide upon the miry stone,
And passing coaches crush thy tortur'd bone,
Or wheels inclose the road; on either hand,
Pent round with perils, in the midst you stand,
And call for aid in vain; the coachman swears,
And carmen drive, unmindful of thy prayers.
Where wilt thou turn? ah! whither wilt thou
fly?

Thus Nisus wander'd o'er the pathless grove,
To find the brave companion of his love.
The pathless grove in vain he wanders o'er :
Euryalus, alas! is now no more.

That walker who, regardless of his pace,
Turns oft to pore upon the damsel's face,
From side to side by thrusting elbows tost,
Shall strike his aching breast against a post;
Or water, dash'd from fishy stalls, shall stain
His hapless coat with spirts of scaly rain.
But, if unwarily he chance to stray
Where twirling turnstiles intercept the way,
The thwarting passenger shall force them round,
And beat the wretch half breathless to the ground.
Let constant vigilance thy footsteps guide,
And wary circumspection guard thy side;
Then shalt thou walk, unharm'd, the dangerous
night,

Nor need th' officious link-boy's smoky light.
Thou never wilt attempt to cross the road,
Where ale-house benches rest the porter's load,
Grievous to heedless shins; no barrow's wheel,
That bruises oft the truant school-boy's heel,
Behind thee rolling, with insidious pace,
Shall mark thy stocking with a miry trace.
Let not thy venturous steps approach too nigh,
Where, gaping wide, low steepy cellars lie.
Should thy shoe wrench aside, down, down you fall, You chance to roam, where oyster-tubs in rows
And overturn the scolding huckster's stall;
The scolding huckster shall not o'er thee moan,
But pence exact for nuts and pears o'erthrown.

Be sure observe where brown Ostrea stands,
Who boasts her shelly ware from Wallfleet sands;
There may'st thou pass with safe unmiry feet,
Where the rais'd pavement leads athwart the street
If where Fleet-ditch with muddy current flows,

Are rang'd beside the posts; there stay thy haste,
And with the savory fish indulge thy taste :
The damsel's knife the gaping shell commands,
While the salt liquor streams between her hands.

Though you through cleanlier alleys wind by day,
To shun the hurries of the public way,
Yet ne'er to those dark paths by night retire;

The man had sure a palate cover'd o'er
With brass or steel, that on the rocky shore
First broke the oozy oyster's pearly coat,
And risk'd the living morsel down his throat.
What will not Luxury taste? Earth, sea, and air,
Are daily ransack'd for the bill of fare!
Blood stuff'd in skins is British Christians' food!
And France robs marshes of the croaking brood!
Spungy morels in strong ragouts are found,
And in the soup the slimy snail is drown'd.

When from high spouts the dashing torrents fall,
Ever be watchful to maintain the wall;
For shouldst thou quit thy ground, the rushing
throng
Will with impetuous fury drive along;
All press to gain those honors thou hast lost,
And rudely shove thee far without the post.
Then to retrieve the shed you strive in vain,
Draggled all o'er, and soak'd in floods of rain.
Yet rather bear the shower, and toils of mud,
Than in the doubtful quarrel risk thy blood.
O think on Edipus' detested state,
And by his woes be warn'd to shun thy fate.
Where three roads join'd, he met his sire un
known;
(Unhappy sire, but more unhappy son!)
Each claim'd the way, their swords the strife decide
The hoary monarch fell, he groan'd, and died!

Mind only safety, and contemn the mire.
Then no impervious courts thy haste detain,
Nor sneering alewives bid thee turn again.

Where Lincoln's-inn, wide space, is rail'd around,
Cross not with venturous step; there oft is found
The lurking thief, who, while the daylight shone,
Made the walls echo with his begging tone;
That crutch, which late compassion mov'd, shall
wound

Thy bleeding head, and fell thee to the ground.
Though thou art tempted by the link-man's call,
Yet trust him not along the lonely wall;
In the mid-way he'll quench the flaming brand,
And share the booty with the pilfering band.
Still keep the public streets, where oily rays,
Shot from the crystal lamp, o'erspread the ways.

Happy Augusta! law-defended town!
Here no dark lanterns shade the villain's frown;
No Spanish jealousies thy lanes infest,
Nor Roman vengeance stabs th' unwary breast;
Here Tyranny ne'er lifts her purple hand,
But Liberty and Justice guard the land;
No bravoes here profess the bloody trade,
Nor is the church the murderer's refuge made.

Let not the chairman, with assuming stride,
Press near the wall, and rudely thrust thy side.

On every side the pressing spokes are nigh.
So sailors, while Charybdis' gulf they shun,
Amaz'd, on Scylla's craggy dangers run.

Hence sprung the fatal plague that thinn'd thy His numerous lowing herd; his herds he sold, reign,

And his deep leathern'd pocket bagg'd with gold. Thy cursed incest! and thy children slain! Drawn by a fraudsul nymph, he gaz'd, he sigh'd : Hence wert thou doom'd in endless night to stray Unmindful of his home, and distant bride, Thro' Theban streets, and cheerless grope thy way. She leads the willing victim to his doom,

Contemplate, mortal, on thy fleeting years; Through winding alleys, to her cobweb room. See, with black train the funeral pomp appears! Thence thro' the streets he reels from post to post, Whether some heir attends in sable state,

Valiant with wine, nor knows his treasure lost. And mourns, with outward grief, a parent's fate; The vagrant wretch th' assembled watchmen spies Or the fair virgin, nipt in beauty's bloom, He waves his hanger, and their poles defies; A crowd of lovers follow to her tomb:

Deep in the round-house pent, all night he snores, Why is the hearse with 'scutcheons blazon'd round, And the next morn in vain his fate deplores. And with the nodding plume of ostrich crown'd ? Ah, hapless swain! unus'd to pains and ills! No: the dead know it not, nor profit gain ; Canst thou forego roast-beef for nauseous pills! Ii only serves to prove the living vain.

How wilt thou lift to Heaven thy eyes and hands, How short is life! how frail is human trust! When the long scroll the surgeon's fees demands! Is all this pomp for laying dust to dust?

Or else (ye gods, avert that worst disgrace!) Where the nail'd hoop defends the painted stall, Thy ruin'd nose falls level with thy face! Brush not thy sweeping skirt too near the wall : Then shall thy wise thy lothesome kiss disdain, Thy heedless sleeve will drink the color'd oil, And wholesome neighbors from thy mug refrain. And spot indelible thy pocket soil.

Yet there are watchmen, who with friendly light Has not wise Nature strung the legs and feet Will teach thy reeling steps to tread aright; With firmest nerves, design d to walk the street ? For sixpence will support thy helpless arm, Has she not given us hands to grope aright, And home conduct thee, safe from nightly harm Amidst the frequent dangers of the night? But, if they shake their lanterns, from afar And think'st thou not the double nostril meant, To call their brethren to confederale war, To warn from oily woes by previous scent? When rakes resist their power; if hapless you

Who can the various city frauds* recite, Should chance to wander with the scouring crew, With all the petty rapines of the night?

Though Fortune yield thee captive, ne'er despair, Who now the guinea-drupper's bait regards,

But seek the constable's considerate ear; Trick'd by the sharper's dice, or juggler's cards ? He will reverse the watchman's harsh decree, Why should I warn thee ne'er to join the fray, Mou'd by the rhetoric of a silver fee. Where the sham quarrel interrupts the way? Thus, would you gain some favorite courtier's word, Lives there in these our days so soft a clown, Fee not the petty clerks, but bribe my lord. Brav'd by the bully's oaths, or threatening frown? Now is the time that rakes their revels keep; I need not strict enjoin the pocket's care,

Kindlers of riot, enemies of sleep. When from the crowded play thou lead'st the fair: His scatter'd pence the flying nicker* flings. Who has not here or watch or snuff-box lost, And with the copper shower the casement rings. Or handkerchiefs that India's shuttle boast? Who has not heard the scourer's midnight fame? 0! may thy virtue guard thee through the roads Who has not trembled at the Mohock's name? Of Drury's mazy courts, and dark abodes ! Was there a watchman took his hourly rounds, The harlots' guileful paths, who nightly stand Safe from their blows, or new-invented wounds? Where Catharine-street descends into the Strand! I pass their desperale deeds, and mischiefs done, Say, vagrant Muse, their wiles and subtle arts, Where from Snow-hill black steepy torrents run; To lure the strangers' unsuspecting hearts : How matrons, hoop'd within the hogshead's womb, So shall our youth on healthful sinews tread, Were tumbled furious thence; the rolling tomb And city cheeks grow warm with rural red. O'er the stones thunders, bounds from side to side;

"Tis she who nightly strolls with sauntering pace, So Regulus, to save his country, died. No stubborn stays her yielding shape embrace ; Where a dim gleam the paly lantern throws Beneath the lamp her ta wdry ribbons glare, O'er the mid pavement, heapy rubbish grows; The new-scour'd manteau, and the slattern air; Or arched vaults their gaping jaws extend, High-draggled petticoats her travels show,

Or the dark caves to common shores descend, And hollow cheeks with artful blushes glow; Oft by the winds extinct the signal lies, With flattering sounds she soothes the credulous Or smother'd in the glimmering socket dies, ear,

Ere Night has half roll'd round her ebon throne; "My noble captain! charmer! love! my dear!" In the wide gulf the shatter'd coach, o'erthrown, In riding-hood near tavern-doors she plies, Sinks with the snorting steeds ; the reins are broke, Or muffled pinners hide her livid eyes.

And from the crackling axle flies the spoke. With empty band box she delights to range,

So, when fam'd Eddystone's far-shooting ray, And feigns a distant errand from the 'Change:

That led the sailor through the stormy way, Nay, she will oft the Quaker's hood profane, Was from its rocky roots by billows torn, And trudge demure the rounds of Drury-lane. And the high turret in the whirlwind borne ; She darts from sarcenet ambush wily leers, Fleets bulg'd their sides against the craggy land, Twitches thy sleeve, or with familiar airs And pitchy ruins blacken'd all the strand. Her fan will pat thy cheek; these snares disdain, Who then through night would hire the harness'd Nor gaze behind thee, when she turns again.

steed? I knew a yeoman, who, for thirst of gain, And who would choose the rattling wheel for speed? To the great city drove, from Devon's plain,

* Gentlemen who delighted to break windows with * Various cheats formerly in practice.

half-pence.