Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, D.S.P.D.
Occasioned by Reading a Maxim in Rochefoucault, "Dans l'adversitŽ de
nos meilleurs amis nous trouvons quelque chose, qui ne nous deplaist pas."
Written by Himself, November 1731
As Rochefoucault his maxims drew
From nature, I believe 'em true:
They argue no corrupted mind
In him; the fault is in mankind.
This maxim more than all the rest
Is thought too base for human breast;
"In all distresses of our friends
We first consult our private ends;
While nature, kindly bent to ease us,
Points out some circumstance to please us."
If this perhaps your patience move,
Let reason and experience prove.
We all behold with envious eyes,
Our equal raised above our size.
Who would not at a crowded show
Stand high himself, keep others low?
I love my friend as well as you,
But would not have him stop my view.
Then let me have the higher post;
I ask but for an inch at most.
If in a battle you should find,
One whom you love of all mankind
Had some heroic action doneA champion killed or trophy wonRather than thus be overtopped,
Would you not wish his laurels cropped?
Dear honest Ned is in the gout,
Lies racked with pain, and you without:
How patiently you hear him groan!
How glad the case is not your own!
What poet would not grieve to see,
His brethren write as well as he?
But rather than they should excel,
He'd wish his rivals all in hell.
Her end when Emulation misses,
She turns to envy, stings and hisses:
The strongest friendship yields to pride
Unless the odds be on our side.
Vain humankind! fantastic race!
Thy various follies who can trace?
Self-love, ambition, envy, pride,
Their empire ...
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