But let me, Sir, refuse it, I implore;
I ought not to be rich while you are poor.
No, Sir, I cannot be your humble Hack:
I fear your Majesty would break my back.”
Wolcot then made a bid for the favour of the Prince of Wales in the “Expostulatory Odes.”
“Elate, to Carlton House my rhymes I sent,
Before the Poem met the public eye:
Which gain’d applause, the Poet’s great intent
But naught besides, I say it with a sigh.”