Wild Boar And Ram.

        A sheep lay tethered, and her life
        Fast ebbing on the butcher's knife;
        The silly flock looked on with dread.
        A wild boar, passing them, then said:
        "O cowards! cowards! will nought make
        The courage of your hearts awake?
        What, with the butcher in your sight,
        Flaying - ere life be parted quite -
        Your lambs and dams! O stolid race!
        Who ever witnessed souls so base?"

        The patriarch ram then answered him:
        "My face and bearing are not grim,
        But we are not of soul so tame
        As to deny Revenge her claim:
        We have no whetted tusks to kill,
        Yet are not powerless of ill.
        Vengeance, the murdering hand pursues,
        And retribution claims her dues;
        She sends the plagues of war and law,
        Where men will battle for a straw -
        And our revenge may rest contented,
        Since drums and parchment were invented."

John Gay

John Gay was an English poet and dramatist of the early 18th century. He is best remembered for 'The Beggar's Opera' (1728), a ballad opera that satirized the contemporary government and society of England. Gay was a member of the Scriblerus Club, alongside notable writers like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. Despite facing financial difficulties, his work remains influential in the landscape of English literature.

John Gay

Squire And Cur.

John Gay, Simple Poetry

The Raven, Sexton, And Worm.

John Gay, Simple Poetry

Dog And Fox.

John Gay, Simple Poetry

Florist And Pig.

John Gay, Simple Poetry

English

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Shepherd's Dog And Wolf.

        A hungry wolf had thinned the fold,
        Safely he refuged on the wold;
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        The thefts of night regaled his day.
        The shepherd's dog, who searched the glen,
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        They fought like Trojan and like Greek,
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        "Wolf," said the dog, "the whilst we rest on,
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        "Wolf," said the dog, "with soul so steady
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The Tamed Fawn.

        A young stag in the brake was caught,
        And home with corded antlers brought.
        The lord was pleased: so was the clown.
        When he was tipped with half-a-crown.
        The stag was dragged before his wife;
        The gentle lady begged its life:
        "How sleek its skin! how specked like ermine!
        Sure never creature was more charming."

        At first within the court confined,
        He fled and hid from all mankind;
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        He at safe distance stood to gaze;
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        Then steals my little master's bread,
        Then followed servants to be fed,
        Then poked his nose in fists for m...

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Cur, Horse, And Shepherd's Dog.

        The lad of mediocre spirit
        Blurs not with modesty his merit.
        On all exerting wit and tongue,
        His rattling jokes, at random flung,
        Bespatter widely friend and foe.
        Too late the forward boy will know
        That jokes are often paid in kind,
        Or rankle longer in the mind.

        A village cur, with treble throat,
        Thought he owned music's purest note,
        And on the highway lay, to show it
        Or to philosopher or poet.
        Soon as a roadster's trot was heard,
        He rose, with nose and ears upreared;
        As he passed by assailed his heels,
        Nor left him till they reached the fields.

        But, as it happened once, a pad,
        Assailed by Master Snarl...

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Dog And Fox.

        (To a Lawyer.)


        My friend, the sophisticated tongue
        Of lawyers can turn right to wrong;
        And language, by your skill made pliant,
        Can save an undeserving client.
        Is it the fee directs the sense
        To injure injured innocence?
        Or can you, with a double face
        Like Janus's, mistate a case?
        Is scepticism your profession,
        And justice absent from your session?
        And is, e'en so, the bar supplied,
        Where eloquence takes either side?

        A man can well express his meaning,
        Except in law deeds, where your gleaning
        Must be first purchased - must be fee'd;
        Engrossed, too, the too-prolix deed.
        But do we shelter be...

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The Dying Fox.

        A fox was dying, and he lay
        In all the weakness of decay.
        A numerous progeny, with groans,
        Attended to his feeble tones:

        "My crimes lie heavy on my soul;
        My sons, my sons, your raids control!
        Ah, how the shrieks of murdered fowl
        Environ me with stunning howl!"

        The hungry foxes in a ring
        Looked round, but saw there no such thing:
        "This is an ecstasy of brain:
        We fast, dear sir, and wish in vain."

        "Gluttons! restrain such wish," replied
        The dying fox; "be such defied;
        Inordinate desires deplore;
        The more you win, you grieve the more.
        Do not the dogs betray our pace,
        And gins and guns destroy our ra...

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The Bull And The Mastiff.

        Deem you to train your son and heir,
        For his preceptor then take care;
        To sound his mind your cares employ,
        E'er you commit to him your boy.
        Once on a time on native plain
        A bull enjoyed a native reign.
        A mastiff, stranger there, with ire
        Beheld the bull, with eyes of fire.
        The bovine monarch, on his part,
        Spurned up the dust with dauntless heart,
        Advised the mastiff to think twice,
        And asked - if lust or avarice,
        From which, in main, contention springs,
        Caused him to break the peace of kings?
        The mastiff answered him, 'twas glory -
        To emulate the sons of story;
        Told him that Cæsar was his sire,
        And he a prince ba...

John Gay