O qui meæ culina
Argutulus Choraules,
Et Hospes es canorus,
Quacunque commoreris.
Felicitatis omen;
Jucundiore cantu
Siquando me salutes,
Et ipse te rependam,
Et ipse, quâ valebo,
Remunerabo musâ.
Dicêris innocensque
Et gratus inquilinus;
Nec victitans rapinis,
Ut sorices voraces,
Muresve.curiosi,
Furumque delicatum
Vulgus domesticorum:
Sed tutus in camini
Recessibus, quiete
Contentus & calore.
Beatior Cicadâ,
Quæ te referre formâ,
LITTLE inmate, full of mirth, Chirping on my kitchen hearth,
Wheresoe'er be thine abode,
Always harbinger of good,
Pay me for thy warm retreat
With a song more soft and sweet;
In return thou shalt receive
Such a strain as I can give.
II.
Thus thy praise shall be exprest,
Inoffensive, welcome guest!
While the rat is on the scout,
And the mouse with curious snout,
With what vermin else infest
Every dish, and spoil the best;
Frisking thus before the fire,
Thou hast all thine heart's desire.
Though in voice and shape they be
Formed as if akin to thee,
Thou surpassest, happier far,
Happiest grasshoppers that are;
Their's is but a summer's song,
Thine endures the winter long,
Unimpaired, and shrill, and clear,
Melody throughout the year.
IV.
Neither night, nor dawn of day,
Puts a period to thy play:
Sing then-and extend thy span
Far beyond the date of man.
Wretched man, whose years are spent
In repiuing discontent
Lives not, aged though he be,
Half a span, compared with thee.
Christatus, pictisque ad Thaida Psittacus alis,
Missus ab Eoo munus amante venit.
Ancillis mandat primam formare loquelam,
Archididascaliæ dat sibi Thais opus.
Psittace, ait Thais, fingitque sonantia molle
Basia, quæ docilis molle refingit Avis.
Jam captat, jam dimidiat Tyrunculus; & jam
Integrat auditos articulatque sonos.
Psittace mi pulcher pulchelle, Hera dicit alumno;
Psittace mi pulcher, reddit alumnus Heræ.
Jamque canit, ridet, deciesque ægrotat in horâ,'
Et vocat ancillas nomine quamque suo.
Multaque scurratur mendax, & multa jocatur,
Et lepido populum detinet augurio.
Nunc tremulum illudet Fratrem, qui suspicit, & Pol!
Carnalis, quisquis te docct, inquit, Homo est;
Argute nunc stridet anûs argutulus instar;
Respicit, & nebulo es, qui-quis es, inquis Anus. Quando fuit melior Tyro, meliorve Magistra! Quando duo ingeniis tam coiere pares! Ardua discenti nulla est, res nulla docenti Ardua; cum doceat Fæmina, discat Avis.
TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE.
In painted plumes superbly drest,
A native of the gorgeous east,
By many a billow tost;
Poll gains at length the British shore,
Part of the captain's precious store,
A present to his toast.
Belinda's maids are soon preferred
To teach him now and then a word,
As Poil can master it;
But 'tis her own important charge
To qualify him more at large,
And make him quite a wit.
Sweet Poll! his doating mistress cries, Sweet Poll! the mimic bird replies, And calls aloud for sack.
She next instructs him in the kiss; 'Tis now a little one, like Miss; And now a hearty smack.
At first he aims at what he hears;`
And, listening close with both his ears,
Just catches at the sound;
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