[Page 195]

A SIMILE.

1 Dear Thomas, didst Thou never pop
2 Thy Head into a Tin-man's Shop?
3 There, Thomas, didst Thou never see
4 ('Tis but by way of Simile)
5 A Squirrel spend his little Rage,
6 In jumping round a rowling Cage?
7 The Cage, as either Side turn'd up,
8 Striking a Ring of Bells a-top ?
9 Mov'd in the Orb, pleas'd with the Chimes,
10 The foolish Creature thinks he climbs:
11 But here or there, turn Wood or Wire,
12 He never gets two Inches higher.
[Page 196]
13 So fares it with those merry Blades,
14 That frisk it under Pindus' Shades.
15 In noble Songs, and lofty Odes,
16 They tread on Stars, and talk with Gods;
17 Still Dancing in an airy Round,
18 Still pleas'd with their own Verses Sound;
19 Brought back, how fast soe'er they go;
20 Always aspiring, always low.

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Title (in Source Edition): A SIMILE.
Author: Matthew Prior
Themes:
Genres: epigram

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Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721. Poems on Several Occasions [English poems only]. London: Printed for JACOB TONSON at Shakespear's-Head over against Katharine-Street in the Strand, and JOHN BARBER upon Lambeth-Hill. MDCCXVIII., 1718, pp. 195-196. [42],506,[6]p.: ill.; 2°. (ESTC T075639) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [H 6.8 Art.].)

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