THE NIGHTINGALE, OWL, AND CUCKOW. A FABLE. ADDRESSED TO DAVID GARRICK, ESQ. ON THE REPORT OF HIS RETIRING FROM THE STAGE, DECEMBER 1760. CRITICS, who like the scarecrows stand Upon the poet's common land, And with severity of sense, Say that in truth lies all sublime, Especially if what you speak Shou'd crimson o'er the glowing cheek: It looks a-squint at adulation. I would be honest and sincere, But not a flatterer, or severe. Need I be surly, rough, uncouth, That folks may think I love the truth? And She, good dame, with Beauty's Queen, For every boy, with Prior, knows, Why should the prudish Goddess dwell Lest, rising up to mortal sight, The modest world shou'd fleer and flout her, With not a rag of cloaths about her? I hear it buzz'd about the table, What can this lead to ?——Sirs, A FABLE. When Birds allow'd the Eagle's sway, Ere Eagles turn'd to fowls of prey, Took Music underneath his care; But Birds, alas! are apt to aim At things, to which they've smallest claim. The staring Owl, with hideous hoot, Offer'd his service for a flute. The Cuckow needs would join the band; "The Thrush is but a paltry hand: "And I can best supply that place, "For I've a shake, a swell, a grace." The Manager their suit preferr❜d: Both tun'd their pipes, and both were heard; Yet each their several praises miss'd, For both were heard, and both were hiss'd. The Cuckow hence, with rancour stirr'd, (A kind of periodic bird, Of nasty hue, and body scabby, No would-be-play-wright half so shabby) Reviles, abuses, and defames, Screams from a branch, and calls hard names, And strikes at Nightingale or Lark, The Owl harangues the gaping throng On Pow'rs, and excellence of song, "The Blackbird's note has lost it's force; "The Nightingale is downright hoarse; "The Linnet's harsh; the Robin shrill "The Sparrow has prodigious skill." ; At length they had what they desir'd: THE POET. AN EPISTLE TO C. CHURCHILL. WELL-Shall I wish you joy of fame, The world estéems a man of wit, That wheresoever he appears, They wonder if the knave has ears) Address with joy and lamentation, CONDOLENCE and CONGRATULATION, As colleges, who duly bring Their mess of verse to every king, Too œconomical in taste, Their sorrow or their joy to waste; |