But poetry no medium can admit,
No reader suffers an indifferent wit:
The ruined stationers against him bawl,
And Herringman[77] degrades him from his stall.
Burlesque at least our laughter may excite;
But a cold writer never can delight.
The Counter-scuffle[78] has more wit and art,
Than the stiff formal style of Gondibert.
Be not affected with that empty praise
Which your vain flatterers will sometimes raise;