Broadside entitled 'A Satyr upon Allan Ramsay'

Transcription

SATYR

Upon ALLAN RAMSAY,

Occasioned upon a Report of his translating H 0 R ACE.

D----d brazen Face, how could you

(hope

To imitate Horatian Strain,
A Labour too refin'd for Pope;
A Task which puzzel'd Prior's Pen.
Brains blown to Foam, or sunk in Mud,
Make, Works too airy, or too dull,

Then all thy Medley Lines, conclude

Have flowed from a confused Skull.
None think it prudent Sense or Wit
To deviate from one's proper Road,
Since Nature made thee only fit,
For Wigs, and not for Verse by G--d :
But if in Spite of ev'ry Rule
Of Poetry and common Sense,
Thou wilt insist and play the Fool,
And plague us with thy Impudence.
Yet for the Sake of Heaven, at least,
One curst Impiety forbear ;
Touch not the Ashes laid to rest ;
Let Horace sleep, his   Labours spare.

previous