His tandem auxiliis ita res procedit, ut omnes Ad numeros ingens perficiatur opus. Quæ tanti ingenii, quæ tanti est summa laboris? Si mihi respondes Edipe, tota tua est. AN ENIGMA. A NEEDLE small, as small can be, In bulk and use, surpasses me, Nor is my purchase dear; For little, and almost for nought, As many of my kind are bought Yet though but little use we boast, And are procur'd at little cost, The labour is not light; Nor few artificers it asks, All skilful in their sev'ral tasks, To fashion us aright. One fuses metal o'er the fire, A second draws it into wire, The shears another plies, Who clips in lengths the brazen thread For him, who, chafing every shred, A fifth prepares, exact and round, The knob, with which it must be crown'd; His follower makes it fast: And with his mallet and his file To shape the point, employs awhile Now therefore, Edipus! declare What creature, wonderful, and rare, Its purpose with so much ado, At last produces !—tell me true, PASSERES INDIGENE COL. TRIN. CANT. COMMENSALES. INCOLA qui nôrit sedes, aut viserit hospes, Ille nec ignorat, nidos ut, vere ineunte, Convocat, haud epulis certior hospes adest. Continuo jucunda simul vox fertur ad aures, Vicinos passer quisque relinquit agros, Hospitium ad notum properatur; et ordine stantes Expectant panis fragmina quisque sua. Hos tamen, hos omnes, vix uno largior asse Sumptus per totam pascit alitque diem. Hunc unum, hunc modicum (nec quisquam inviderit assem) Indigenæ, hospitii jure, merentur aves. SPARROWS SELF-DOMESTICATED IN TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. NONE ever shar'd the social feast, Or as an inmate, or a guest, Where once Sir Isaac had his home, Sure as the vernal season comes Their nests they weave in hope of crumbs, Which kindly giv'n, may serve with food Convenient their unfeather'd brood; And oft as with its summons clear The warning bell salutes their ear, They flock from all the fields around, None more attentive to the call. Arriv'd, the pensionary band, Hopping and chirping, close at hand, Solicit what they soon receive, The sprinkled, plenteous donative. Th' expenditure of every day, To suppliants, natives of the place? |