Poetical recreations consisting of original poems, songs, odes, &c. with several new translations : in two parts / part I, occasionally written by Mrs. Jane Barker, part II, by several gentlemen of the universities, and others.
About this Item
Title
Poetical recreations consisting of original poems, songs, odes, &c. with several new translations : in two parts / part I, occasionally written by Mrs. Jane Barker, part II, by several gentlemen of the universities, and others.
Author
Barker, Jane.
Publication
London :: Printed for Benjamin Crayle ...,
1688.
Rights/Permissions
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Subject terms
English poetry -- Early modern, 1500-1700.
Songs, English -- Texts.
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A30923.0001.001
Cite this Item
"Poetical recreations consisting of original poems, songs, odes, &c. with several new translations : in two parts / part I, occasionally written by Mrs. Jane Barker, part II, by several gentlemen of the universities, and others." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A30923.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 8, 2024.
Pages
descriptionPage 65
To my Unkind Friend, Little Tom King.
I.
WEll, by experience now I see,This World's made up of flattery,Complements and formality;Since nought but int'rest now can bindEv'n old acquaintance to be kind.'Twere madness then to hope to findTrue Friendship in the Modern CrewOf late-contracted Friends.Hence then acquaintance all adieu,I can't oblige my Friendship to pursueSuch dull insipid ends,As nought but to a Ceremony tends.Since Friendship from old Friends is flown,Rather than endure the pratlings,The flatteries and the censurings,
descriptionPage 66
Which a Modish Friendship brings,My pensive Dove shall sit and coo alone.
II.
But perhaps it will be said,Unlucky Business has this mischief made:Business, that plausible excuseOf all unkindness to a Friend,That Bankrupt, that ne'er pays Principle nor Use,Of all the Time that e'er we to him lend.Yet Bus'ness now's a Merchant of such Fame,That he has got the whole MonopolyOf Time, Love, Friends, and Liberty;Of which, if there be scarcity,Bus'ness is to blame;For nought can vended be, but in his Name.
III.
Since then the World's so much to Bus'ness pro••e,'Tis time that idle I was gone:
descriptionPage 67
Alas, why do I stay,VVhen that canker bus'ness (which I hate)VVith Int'rest is confederate,Eats our pleasant shady Friends away?VVe're left obnoxious to the storms of Fate;Nay ev'n then the hottest GleamsOf Prosperities brightest Beams,Help but to make us dwindle and decay.And though we strive our selves to shadeUnder the closest Rules of Constancy;Yet when the Powers of Fate invade,That too, alas, will shake and fade,And make us see,That though our best Ambition strivesTo keep a reg'lar harmony:Yet Fate will ring her Changes on our Lives,Till discordant Death arrives;VVho informs us by his latest Knell,Whether we have made up this World's Consort well.
descriptionPage 68
IV.
Hence I'll not murmur then,Though some grow Proud, and others really GreatOr heap up Riches by deceit,Since they must pay it all againTo Death, who rapaciously devoursAll, for which we drudge in vain,And sell our ease for fruitless pain:All which we like mistaken fools call ours,Whilst in some lazie Solitude may IEnjoy my self alone,Free from this VVorld's buzzing frantick feuds,And sweets and stings of Fate's Vicissitudes,Have nothing else to do but dye.I care not who esteems me as a Drone,For out o'th' World so secretly I'll steal,That babbling Fame shall not the theft reveal;And when I to my long repose am gone,My dearest Brother, who is gone before,Half way will meet me in the Air, or more;
descriptionPage 69
Where we'll be happy in Excess,In Mansions of Eternal blessedness.Yet if there can beAny allay of this felicity;It will be this, when he shall find,That I no other news can bring,From his Old Friend, my Little King,But that he was unkind.
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