The Patron’s promise, and the World’s applause,

Yea, all the hopes of poets,—shall dissolve,

And, like this insubstantial fable fated,

Leave not a groat behind!

Posthumous Parodies, 1814.

A Few Parodies of Detached Passages.

“Flirting.”
(After Portia.)

The quality of flirting is not strained;

It droppeth like the gentle rain from heaven