The cruel Parcae are to us unknown;

We wond'rous magick pow'rs have often shown;

But wretched, spite of this, appears our lot

Death never comes, though various ills we've got,

For we to human maladies are prone,

And suffer greatly oft, I freely own.

ONCE, in each week to serpents we are changed;

Do you remember how you here arranged,

To save an adder from a clown's attack?

'Twas I, the furious rustick wished to hack,