Page:The battle of the books - Guthkelch - 1908.djvu/328

 figure showing the signs of the Zodiac, and beside it is printed the following rhyme:

Beneath the figure and the rhyme is put:

In the right hand corner is another figure with another rhyme.

The contraction Ephem. in Swift's note stands for Ephemeris or Ephemerides, that is, almanack. The ''Opt. Edit''. to which he refers, is, presumably, that for the current year.

It may be mentioned that a rhyme similar to that just given is to be found in FitzGerald's Polonius, under the heading War:

In his Essay on Poetry (T. iii. 438) Temple remarks that 'plenty begets wantonness and pride.'

With the general sentiment of the opening of the Battle one may compare the following from Gulliver's Travels,