Yet to Euryalus as Nisus true, So shall thy Roscius, Nyky, prove to you;
Whether by impulse mov'd, itself divine,
Or so I'm bound to call it, as it's mine,
A mighty feat presents itself to view,
Which for our mutual gain I yet will do.
Mean-time do thou beware, while I bemoan,
How far thou trustest seas or lands unknown.
To Tyber's stream, or to the banks of Po,
Safe in thy love, safe in thy virtue, go;
Yet even there with caution be thou kind,
And look out sharp and frequently behind.
But ah, beware, nor trust, tho' native Mud,[4]
The banks of Liffy, or of Shannon's flood;
Or there, if driv'n by fate, be hush'd thy strain?
Nor of thy wayward lot, nor mine complain.
IMITATIONS.
Nisus ait, "Diine hunc ardorem mentibus addunt
Euryale? An sua cuique deus sit dira Cupido?
Aut pugnam, aut aliquid jamdudum invadere magnum
Mens agitat mihi——
Hàc iter est; tu ne qua manus se attollere nobis
A tergo possit, custodi et consule longè."
NOTES.

[4] Nyky it seems was born and bred in Ireland; where his christian name was John. How he came by the Jewish appellation of Isaac is not generally known. Whether it was bestowed upon him for his resemblance to the chosen people, or given him by poetical licence, may possibly be a matter of disquisition for future scholiasts.

Lest female Bacchanals, when flush'd with wine,
Serve thee, like Orpheus, for thy song divine;
Nay back return, lest my too plaintive verse
Entail on me the same Orphean curse;
Lest Venus' train of Drury and the Strand
Attack my house by water and by land;
Hot with their midnight orgies, madly tear
My little limbs, and throw them here and there;
Casting, enrag'd at my provoking theme,
Th' inditing brain into the neighbouring stream:
When, as my skull shall float the tide along,
Thy much-lov'd name, the burthen of my song,
Shall still be stutter'd, later than my breath;
Nyky—-Nyk——Ny——till stopt my tongue in death:
Through London-bridge shall Wapping Nyky roar,
And Nyk be even heard to Hampton's shore.[5]
IMITATIONS.
—— —— Spreto Ciconum quo munere matres
Inter sacra deûm, nocturnique orgia Bacchi,
Discerptum latos juvenem sparsêre per agros.
Tum quoque marmoreâ caput à cervice revulsum,
Gurgite cum medio portans Oeagrius Hebrus
Volveret, Eurydicen vox ipsa et frigida lingua
Ah miseram Eurydicen anima fugiente, vocabat:
Eurydicen toto referebant flumine ripæ!
NOTES.

[5] The celebrated villa of Roscius.

On Hebrus' banks so tuneful Orpheus died;
His limbs the fields receiv'd, his head the tide.
Nor more its stream renown'd than Thames in fame[6]:
Here Catherine Hayes serv'd Goodman Hayes the same.
Here on this spot, where now th' Adelphi stands,
Was thrown her husband's noddle from her hands;
His scatter'd limbs left quiv'ring on the shore;
As Thracian wives had play'd their part before.
Oh, horrour, horrour! Nyky back return;
Nor more for grenadiers imprudent burn.
And yet, ah why should Nyky thus be blam'd?
Of manly love ah! why are men asham'd?
A new red coat, fierce cock and killing air
Will captivate the most obdurate fair;
What wonder then if Nyky's tender heart
At such a sight should feel a lover's smart:
No wonder love, that in itself is blind,
Should no distinction in the difference find;
No wonder love should Nyky thus enthrall;
Almighty love, at times, subdues us all;
While, vulgar prejudices soar'd above,
Nyk gave up all the world,—well lost for love.
IMITATIONS.
Omnia vincit amor et nos cedamus amori.
NOTES.

[6] See the Tyburn Chronicle and Newgate lamentations pro tempore; particularly that famous ballad, entitled A merry song about murder, beginning with, "In Tyburn-road there liv'd a man," &c.