The smoothest verse, and the exactest sense,

Displease us, if ill English give offence:

A barbarous phrase no reader can approve;

Nor bombast, noise, or affectation love.

In short, without pure language, what you write

Can never yield us profit or delight.

Take time for thinking; never work in haste;

And value not yourself for writing fast.

A rapid poem, with such fury writ,

Shews want of judgment, not abounding wit.