A few years after the publication of The Splendid Shilling, a small pamphlet appeared, entitled “Wine, a Poem. To which is added, Old England’s New Triumph; or, the Battle of Audenard, a Song.” London: Printed and sold by H. Hills in Black-fryars, near the Water-Side, 1709. No author’s name is given; the poem certainly deserves to be preserved, as an early and interesting imitation of Milton’s blank verse. The song of the “Battle of Audenard” is not a parody.
WINE, a Poem.
Nulla placere diu, nec vivere carmina possunt,
Quæ Scribuntur aquæ portoribus.
Epist. 19, Lib. 1, Hor.
Of Happiness Terrestrial, and the Source
Whence human Pleasure flow, sing Heavenly Muse,
Of sparkling juices, of the enliv’ning Grape,
Whose quickning Taste adds Vigour to the Soul,
Whose Sov’raign pow’r revives decaying Nature,