But mercy now must be refus'd,
To such a set of croaking sinners.

21.

If David when his toils were ended,
Had heard these blockheads sing before him,
To us his psalms had ne'er descended,
In furious mood he would have tore 'em.

22.

The luckless Israelites when taken,
By some inhuman tyrant's order,
Were ask'd to sing, by joy forsaken,
On Babylonian river's border.

23.

But had they sung in notes like these,
Inspir'd by stratagem, or fear,
They might have set their hearts at ease,
The devil a soul had stay'd to hear.

24.

_But if I write_ much longer now,
The deuce a soul _will stay to read_,
My pen is blunt, the ink is low,
'Tis almost time to _stop, indeed_.

25.

Therefore farewell, old GRANTA's spires,
No more like _Cleofas_ I fly,
No more thy theme my muse inspires,
The reader's tired, and so am I.

_October_ 28, 1806.

[Footnote 8: The Diable Boiteux of LE SAGE, where Asmodeus the Demon,
places Don Cleofas on an elevated situation, and unroofs the houses
for his inspection.]

[Footnote 9: Sele's publication on Greek metres is not remarkable for
its accuracy.]

[Footnote 10: Every Cambridge man will assent to this,--the Latin of
the Schools is almost unintelligible.]

[Footnote 11: The discovery of Pythagoras, that the square of the
Hypothenuse, is equal to the squares of the other two sides of a right
angled triangle.]

[Footnote 12: On a Saint Day, the Students wear Surplices in Chapel.]

* * * * *

TO THE SIGHING STREPHON.

Your pardon my friend,
If my rhymes did offend,
Your pardon a thousand times o'er,
From friendship I strove,
Your pangs to remove,
But I swear I will do so no more.

2.

Since your _beautiful_ maid
Your flame has repaid,
No more I your folly regret;
She's now most divine,
And I bow at the shrine,
Of this quickly reformed coquette.

3.

But still I must own,
I should never have known,
From _your verses_ what else she deserv'd,
Your pain seem'd so great,
I pitied your fate,
As your fair was so dev'lish reserv'd.

4.

But since the chaste kiss,
Of this magical Miss,
Such wonderful transports produce,
Since the "_world you forget,"
"When your lips once have met_,"
My Counsel will get but abuse.

5.

You say "when I rove"
"I know nothing of love,