Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/354

 290

In other folks we faults can spy,

And blame the mote that dims their eye;

Each little speck and blemish find:—

To our own grosser errors blind.

(John Gay.)

THE BOY AND THE RAINBOW

NE evening, as a simple Swain

His flocks attended on the plain,

The shining Bow he chanced to spy

Which warns us when a shower is nigh.

With brightest rays it seemed to glow;

Its distance, eighty yards or so.

This bumpkin had, it seems, been told

The story of the Cup of Gold,

Which, Fame reports, is to be found

Just where the Rainbow meets the ground.

He therefore felt a sudden itch

To seize the goblet and be rich;

Hoping, yet hopes are oft but vain,

No more to toil through wind and rain,

But sit indulging by the fire,

Midst ease and plenty like a Squire.