ODE ON THE DEATH OF A LADY, WHO LIVED ONE HUNDRED YEARS, AND DIED ON HER BIRTHDAY, 1728. ANCIENT dame, how wide and vast, To a race like ours appears, Rounded to an orb at last, All thy multitude of years! We, the herd of human kind, Frailer and of feebler pow'rs; We, to narrow bounds confin'd, Soon exhaust the sum of ours. Death's delicious banquet-we Perish even from the womb, Swifter than a shadow flee, Nourish'd, but to feed the tomb. Seeds of merciless disease Lurk in all that we enjoy; Some, that waste us by degrees, Some, that suddenly destroy. And if life o'erleap the bourn, What remains, but that we mourn, Fast as moons can wax and wane, Pant with anguish and complain, If a few, (to few 'tis giv'n) Ling'ring on this earthly stage, Creep, and halt with steps unev❜n, To the period of an age, Wherefore live they, but to see Cunning, arrogance, and force, Sights lamented much by thee, Holding their accustom'd course? Oft was seen, in ages past, All that we with wonder view; Often shall be to the last; Earth produces nothing new. Thee we gratulate; content, Should propitious Heav'n design Life for us, as calmly spent, Though but half the length of thine. VICTORIA FORENSIS. CAIO cum Titio lis et vexatio longa Sunt de vicini proprictate soli. Protinus ingentes animos in jurgia sumunt, Lis tumet in schedulas, et jam verbosior, et jam: Quisque novos sumptus, alter et alter, habent. Ille querens, hic respondens pendente vocatur Lite; sed ad finem litis uterque querens. THE CAUSE WON. Two neighbours furiously dispute; "Twere hard to tell, who covets most The prize-at whatsoever cost. The pleadings swell. Words still suffice; No single word but has its price: No term but yields some fair pretence Defendant thus becomes a name, Which he, that bore it, may disclaim; Since both, in one description blended, Are plaintiffs-when the suit is ended. BOMBYX. FINE sub Aprilis Bombyx excluditur ovo Frondibus hic mori, volvox dum fiat adultus, |