Whether they tread the vale of prose, or climb,

And whet their appetites on cliffs of rhyme;

The college sloven, or embroider'd spark;

The purple prelate, or the parish clerk;

The quiet quidnunc, or demanding prig;

The plaintiff tory, or defendant whig;

Rich, poor, male, female, young, old, gay, or sad;

Whether extremely witty, or quite mad;

Profoundly dull, or shallowly polite;

Men that read well, or men that only write;