The Peacock. A Fable. Mary Barber Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T42622 519 p. 45 Barber, Mary, ca. 1690-1757. Poems on Several Occasions [poems only]. London Printed for C. Rivington, at the Bible and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1734 pp. 257-259. xlviii,283,[7]p.; 8⁰.

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The Peacock . A Fable . Inscrib'd ( once at a Wedding ) to the Bashaws of Utopia . Once Juno's Bird ( as Authors say ) Was seiz'd on by some Birds of Prey : They pluck'd his Feathers , one by one , Till all his useful Plumes were gone ; Stript him of ev'ry thing beside ; But left his Train , to please his Pride . Some other Birds admir'd to see , He tamely bore such Injury ; And often on his Patience jok'd — He cry'd — They must not be provok'd : I'm in their Pow'r , nor shall debate , But yield to my unhappy Fate . Yet in this Plight would he resort , To where the Eagle kept his Court : For , tho' oppress'd , he still was proud To make his Bows among the Croud . The Eagle , gracious , saw him there ; Which envious Courtiers could not bear , Well knowing , should he tread that Soil , He would in time put in for Spoil . As Tameness Injuries provokes , In Birds , as well as mortal Folks ; The Peacock they assault again , And strip him of his glitt'ring Train . Enrag'd at this , he stamp'd and tore , And quoted Precedents a Score , That Peacocks ever were allow'd To shew their Beauty to the Croud . At this the haughty Courtiers sneer , And cry , What Bus'ness have you here ? He had a Right , they plainly saw ; But let him know , That Pow'r is Law . At length a Pheasant standing by , Beheld him with a pitying Eye : And said , You now begin too late To stem the Torrent of your Fate : Yet are you not of all bereft ; For still a fair Retreat is left : Why will you here neglected roam , When you might be rever'd at home ?