RIDDLE. Richard Roderick Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
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Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T131163 K104099.002 Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. II. London printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley 1763 [1st ed. 1758] pp. 314-316. 6v.: music; 8⁰.

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RIDDLE . — Mortalis in unum Quodque caput , vultu mutabilis , albus an ater . Horace, Epistles 2.2, ll. 188-9. By the Same . TORN from the fruitful spot on which I grew , Me innocent unnumber'd pains pursue ; Pains more afflicting , as from man they flow , From parent man ! for birth to man I owe . Sometimes on spikes of steel my nerves they rend , Sometimes asunder split from end to end ; In boiling cauldrons now immers'd I lie , Now doom'd the rage of drying fires to try : There while in double torment scorch'd and drown'd , Fast tied I writhe the rigid stake around . Last their fierce hate its utmost effort tries With all Barbarian pomp of sacrifice . The purple fillet round my temples wreathes , From every part the scented unguent breathes ; O'er my white locks the sacred flower is spread Whilst on the fatal block is plac'd my head . Yet with fix'd constancy I bear my doom ; And constancy at last will overcome . From all my tryals I return at length , My worth increas'd , my beauty , and my strength . The suffering martyr thus in torment dies , In sainted state more glorious to arise . And now I re-assume my native state , My torturers now beneath their burden sweat , Slaves in their turn to me , and think it pride If on their subject necks I deign to ride . Yet still my filial duty I retain , Unchang'd by honours , as unmov'd by pain . Still to mankind a friend , I daily shed My warmest blessings on his parent head ; Around him still with fond embraces twine , As round the elm her tendrils curls the vine . Nor quit him e'er till he to rest repairs , And every morn renew my constant cares . Ready alike on rich and poor to wait ; I suit myself to every different state . With priest in whitish dress array'd I shine , Emblem of purity and truth divine . His solemn face the doctor owes to me , His solemn face , to which he owes his fee . At bench , or bar , I add a dignity To th' upright sentence , or rhetorick plea ; Hence without me no judge explains the laws , Nor coifed council pleads the puzzling cause : In fullest floods my bounty showers on them Profuse , descending to the garment's hem . Gorgeous in silken garb I grace the beau ; And all around ambrosial fragrance throw ; Nor less decorous , tho' with dust o'erspread , When to the camp the valiant warriors lead , Gorgonian terrors to each mien I add , And still their weakest part with care I shade .