'Thy coat is thin; why, man, thou'rt _barely_ dress'd; It's worn to th' thread; but I have nappy beer; Clap that within, and see how they will wear!' 860 "Gay days were these; but they were quickly past: When first he came, we found he cou'dn't last: A whoreson cough (and at the fall of leaf) Upset him quite;--but what's the gain of grief? "Then came the Author-Rector; his delight Was all in books; to read them, or to write: Women and men he strove alike to shun, And hurried homeward when his tasks were done, Courteous enough, but careless what he said, For points of learning he reserved his head; 870 And, when addressing either poor or rich, He knew no better than his cassock which. He, like an osier, was of pliant kind, Erect by nature, but to bend inclined; Not like a creeper falling to the ground, Or meanly catching on the neighbours round.-- Careless was he of surplice, hood, and band-- And kindly took them as they came to hand; Nor, like the doctor, wore a world of hat, As if he sought for dignity in that. 880 He talk'd, he gave, but not with cautious rules, Nor turn'd from gipsies, vagabonds, or fools; It was his nature, but they thought it whim, And so our beaux and beauties turn'd from him. Of questions much he wrote, profound and dark-- How spake the serpent, and where stopp'd the ark; From what far land the Queen of Sheba came; Who Salem's priest, and what his father's name; He made the Song of Songs its mysteries yield, And Revelations, to the world, reveal'd. 890 He sleeps i' the aisle--but not a stone records His name or fame, his actions or his words: And, truth, your reverence, when I look around, And mark the tombs in our sepulchral ground, (Though dare I not of one man's hope to doubt), I'd join the party who repose without, "Next came a youth from Cambridge, and, in truth, He was a sober and a comely youth; He blush'd in meekness as a modest man, And gain'd attention ere his task began; 900 When preaching, seldom ventured on reproof, But touch'd his neighbours tenderly enough. Him, in his youth, a clamorous sect assail'd, Advised and censured, flatter'd,--and prevail'd.-- Then did he much his sober hearers vex, Confound the simple, and the sad perplex; To a new style his reverence rashly took; Loud grew his voice, to threat'ning swell'd his look; Above, below, on either side, he gazed, Amazing all, and most himself amazed: 910 No more he read his preachments pure and plain, But launch'd outright, and rose and sank again: At times he smiled in scorn, at times he wept, } And such sad coil with words of vengeance kept, } That our best sleepers started as they slept. }