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[Page 178][Page 179]
THE METAMORPHOSE.
1 WITH rolling time that all things change,
2 Has oft been said, and oft been sung:
3 One instance more; the difference strange
4 'Twixt WITWOUD old, and WITWOUD young!
5 In youth, compound of curls and lace,
6 Of giggle, fidget, and of froth;
7 One simper dimpled in his face,
8 No butterfly more void of wrath.
9 Pleas'd with himself, with all well-pleas'd,
10 The flutterer scarce could give offence:
11 Or if he teaz'd, with nought he teaz'd,
12 But simple, pure, impertinence.
13 Now view him in declining age,
14 Assume the four satyric frown:
15 On friends and foes discharge his rage,
16 The very SCARECROW of the town.
17 So Flies, in frisk, and buzz, and play,
18 That harmless through the summer past,
19 When ready to be swept away,
20 Grow blind, and sting us at the last.
About this text
Author: James Barclay
Themes:
age
Genres:
character
References:
DMI 32583
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. III. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 178-179. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1136; OTA K093079.003) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.790].)
Editorial principles
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.