[Page 160]

On MITES.

To a LADY.

'Tis but by way of Simile. PRIOR.
1 DEAR Madam, did you never gaze,
2 Thro' Optic-glass, on rotten Cheese?
3 There, Madam, did you ne'er perceive
4 A Crowd of dwarfish Creatures live?
5 The little Things, elate with Pride,
6 Strut to and fro, from Side to Side:
7 In tiny Pomp, and pertly vain,
8 Lords of their pleasing Orb, they reign;
9 And, fill'd with harden'd Curds and Cream,
10 Think the whole Dairy made for them.
[Page 161]
11 SO Men, conceited Lords of all,
12 Walk proudly o'er this pendent Ball,
13 Fond of their little Spot below,
14 Nor greater Beings care to know;
15 But think, those Worlds, which deck the Skies,
16 Were only form'd to please their Eyes.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): On MITES. To a LADY.
Author: Stephen Duck
Themes: humour
Genres: satire

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Source edition

Duck, Stephen, 1705-1756. Poems on several occasions: By Stephen Duck. London: printed for the author, 1736, pp. 160-161. xl,334,[2]p. ; 4⁰. (ESTC T90234; OTA K073280.000)

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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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