[Page 264]

The ANSWER.

DEAR SIR,
1 YOUR kind itinerary letter
2 Has render'd me so deep your debtor,
3 That if in your own coin of wit,
4 You look for payment, you'll be bit:
5 In that I scarce can pay a part;
6 Then take, for all, a grateful heart.
7 To business chain'd, as to an oar,
8 My soul regrets she cannot soar,
9 The charms of liberty to sing,
10 And to her temple follow
* Dr. King of Oxford, author of Templum Libertatis, and many other excellent Latin Poems.
King,
11 Who emulates great Maro's strain,
12 But flatters no Augustus reign.
13 How sweetly you, Negotio procul,
14 Woods, mountains, rivers render vocal;
15 While like Ulysses far you roam,
16 Note manners and bring wisdom home!
17 Your journey you depict so strong,
18 Methinks I with you go along,
19 Each town and city curious view,
20 Famous for story false or true;
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21 If either, 'tis all one for that,
22 Because it furnishes with chat,
23 And chat you know, with wit's support,
24 The tedious journey renders short:
25 Yet, sometimes proves too-long the way,
26 When you're oblig'd to fast and pray.
27 For dinner, which, perhaps you find
28 Not cook'd according to your mind,
29 So trust to supper, proving worse;
30 Like Pistol then you eat and curse;
31 Or else, content with viands light,
32 In study pass an Attic night,
33 Review the folly and the crimes,
34 That scandalize the present times;
35 And making Horace your bright rule,
36 Reform the world with ridicule;
37 Or, where vice more enormous urges,
38 Like Juvenal your satire scourges.
39 O double vengeance on them lay
40 Who the land's liberty betray,
41 Who prostitute their votes for price,
42 And owe their greatness to their vice.
43 But now your journey you pursue,
44 And other objects claim your view;
45 The dusky woods, the open downs,
46 The winding brooks, the rising towns.
47 Where'r you go I still attend,
48 Partake the fortunes of my friend:
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49 On foot, in chariot, or in boat,
50 With you I walk, I ride, I float,
51 St. George's channel see you o'er,
52 Safe landed on Ierne's shore,
53 And lodg'd within her fairest city
54 Among the debonair and witty,
55 By you confest such winning fellows,
56 Forgive me if they make me jealous;
57 And truly I begin to burn,
58 Then hasten, friend, your wish'd return;
59 And, tho' my head be not so bright,
60 You'll always find my heart is right,
61 And none more zealous or more fervent
62 In friendship than Your humble Servant.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): The ANSWER.
Author: John Ellis
Themes: travel; entertainments; pastimes; friendship
Genres: answer/reply; epistle
References: DMI 31274

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Source edition

Mendez, Moses. A collection of the most esteemed pieces of poetry: that have appeared for several years. With variety of originals, by the late Moses Mendez, Esq; and other contributors to Dodsley's collection. To which this is intended as a supplement. London: printed for Richardson and Urquhart, 1767, pp. 264-266. [8],320p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T124631; DMI 1073; OTA K099398.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Harding C 148].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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