Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7.djvu/215

 Or make a rumbling o'er his head, His candle out, and he abed) We watch his motions to a minute, And leave the flood when he goes in it. Now stinted in the shortening day, We go to prayers, and then to play, Till supper comes; and after that We sit an hour to drink and chat. 'Tis late — the old and younger pairs, By Adam lighted, walk up stairs. The weary Dean goes to his chamber; And Nim and Dan to garret clamber. So when the circle we have run, The curtain falls, and all is done. I might have mention’d several facts, Like episodes between the acts; And tell who loses and who wins, Who gets a cold, who breaks his shins; How Dan caught nothing in his net, And how the boat was overset. For brevity I have retrench'd How in the lake the dean was drench'd: It would be an exploit to brag on, How valiant George rode o'er the Dragon; How steady in the storm he sat, And sav'd his oar, but lost his hat: How Nim (no hunter e'er could match him) Still brings us hares, when he can catch 'em: How skilfully Dan mends his nets; How fortune fails him when he sets; Or how the Dean delights to vex The ladies, and lampoon their sex: I might