With carving quaint, that spoke the master’s taste;
But if that taste admitted some dispute,
He charm’d the nymphs with flageolet and flute. 110
Constant at church, and there a little proud,
He sang with boldness, and he read aloud;
Self-taught to write, he his example took
And form’d his letters from a printed book.
I’ve heard of ladies who profess’d to see
In a man’s writing what his mind must be;
As Doctor Spurzheim’s pupils, when they look