The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 3 (of 3)Freneau, Philip Morin
General
The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 3 (of 3)
Freneau, Philip Morin
American poetry
Ah! now I see poor Carolina's horses,
With pedlar's pack,
Pil'd high on back,
Pursuing their mean, blackguard courses,
Through solitary groves and woods of pine
Transporting Goods, like thine,
--------Damned stuff!
Of which Columbia, sure, has had--enough--
There Pickens, Sumpter, Greene, for freedom fought,
And Liberty her wonders wrought.
What do I hear? And have we lent thee wings
To waft thy poison into Eutaw Springs?
Those, clearer than Castalia's waters, found,
For many a hero, dead, who might have claim'd
Life--but for brutish George,
Who, having robb'd and plunder'd half the east,
Came here to close his Vulture's feast.
Now, Peter! take advice from Doctor Rush;
And--convert to the system you would crush;
Pray, let him draw your blackguard blood;
(And calomell might, also, do some good.)
Four thousand drops exhausted from your veins
Will save the future exercise of canes:
And, tell him to be speedy with his lancet,
For 'tis a truth; and many dare advance it,
That howe'er in life well fed,
No Doctor bleeds a man--when dead.
ODE VI[136]
ADDRESS TO A LEARNED PIG
Of Particular Eminence, who, in a certain Great City, was
visited by Persons of the First Taste and Distinction
O thou, marked out by Fate from vulgar swine,
Among the learned of our age to shine,
On whom 'squires, ladies, parsons, come to gaze,
Bold, science-loving pig,
Who, without gown or wig
Can force your way through learning's thorny maze
--How many high learned wights in days of old
(Whom Fame has with the great enrolled)
Starved by their wits--were banished, hanged, or sold;
--While you, on better ages fallen, O lucky swine!
Can by your wit on pyes and sweetmeats dine--
When house and lands are gone and spent,
Then learning is most excellent--
(So says a proverb through the world well known)--
You, that were pigged to grovel in a stye,
Have left your swill for science high:--
Without a rival of your race,
You hold a most distinguished place--
All that the heart can wish flows in to you,
Who real happiness pursue,
And are well fed, on whate'er hog stye thrown.
Now, if one had the chance to choose one's state
On this world's stage, and not controuled by Fate,
Who would not wish to have his little brains
Lodged in the head of Learned Pig,
Rather than be a man, and toil, and sweat, and dig
With all the sense the human scull contains.
With Us, we all are wise, we all things know,
But every pig--inferior is to you--
The rest are fools and simpletons--and so--
What, next, will be the science You attain?
Science!--to You, that opens all her store?--
Already have you in your sapient brain
More than most aldermen--and gumption more
Than some, who capers cut on Congress floor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account