The Library

by George Crabbe

In leagued assembly keep their cumbrous state;

Heavy and huge, they fill the world with dread,

Are much admired, and are but little read:

The commons next, a middle rank, are found;

Professions fruitful pour their offspring round;

Reasoners and wits are next their place allowed,

And last, of vulgar tribes a countless crowd.

First, let us view the form, the size, the dress;

For these the manners, nay the mind, express:

That weight of wood, with leathern coat o’erlaid;