Alive, the foe thy dreadful vigour fled, And saw thee fall with joy-pronouncing eyes : 2 First printed in "The Bee," 1759. The original is in " Ménagiana," tom. iv. p. 200 :— "Pour témoignage de ma flamme, ÉTRENNE À IRIS. Iris, du meilleur de mon âme, Quoi donc attendez, je vous donne, O fille plus belle que bonne, Qui m'avez toujours refusé Le point si souvent proposé, Je vous donne-Ah! le puis-je dire? Fussiez-vous cent fois plus aimable, My heart, a victim to thine eyes, Say, would the angry fair one prize A bill, a jewel, watch, or toy, I'll give-but not the full-blown rose, I'll give thee something yet unpaid, I'll give thee-ah! too charming maid, AN ELEGY ON THAT GLORY OF HER SEX, MRS. MARY BLAIZE.' GOOD people all, with one accord, From those who spoke her praise. 1 First printed in "The Bee," 1759:-"The elegy on Madam Blaize, and the better part of that on the Death of a Mad Dog, are closely imitated from a well-known French string of absurdities called 'La Chanson du fameux la Galisse;' one of many versions of which may be found in the 'Ménagiana,' tom. iii. p. 29. Messieurs, vous plait-il d'ouir The needy seldom pass'd her door, She strove the neighbourhood to please, At church, in silks and satins new, With hoop of monstrous size; She never slumber'd in her pew, But when she shut her eyes. Her love was sought, I do aver, But now her wealth and finery fled, Let us lament, in sorrow sore, For Kent-street' well may say, That had she liv'd a twelvemonth more, She had not died to-day. On dit que dans ses amours, Il fut caressé des belles, Qui le suivirent toujours, Tant qu'il marche devant elles. Il fut par un triste sort, Blessé d'une main cruelle; On croit, puisqu'il est mort, Que la plaie était mortelle."-CROKER. 1 See note on Essay 5 of Collected Essays, printed in vol. iii. VOL. I. H DESCRIPTION OF AN AUTHOR'S BED-CHAMBER.' WHERE the Red Lion flaring o'er the way, Where Calvert's butt, and Parson's black champagne, Regale the drabs and bloods of Drury-lane ; There, in a lonely room, from bailiffs snug, The Muse found Scroggen stretch'd beneath a rug; The rusty grate unconscious of a fire: 4 2 With beer and milk arrears the frieze was scor'd, And five crack'd tea-cups dress'd the chimney board; 1 First printed in "The Citizen of the World," Letter xxx; and afterwards inserted, with a few variations, in "The Deserted Village," 1770. On this subject Goldsmith had projected an heroi-comic poem, as appears by one of his letters to his brother. 2 Viz. "1. Urge no healths; 2. Profane no divine ordinances; 3. Touch no state matters; 4. Reveal no secrets; 5. Pick no quarrels; 6. Make no comparisons; 7. Maintain no ill opinions; 8. Keep no bad company; 9. Encourage no vice; 10. Make no long meals; 11. Repeat no grievances; 12. Lay no wagers." 3 William, Duke of Cumberland, the hero of Culloden, d. 1765. 4"And now imagine, after his soliloquy, the landlord to make his appearance, in order to dun him for the reckoning: "Not with that face, so servile and so gay, That welcomes every stranger that can pay, Then pulled his breeches tight, and thus began,' &c. "All this is taken, you see, from nature. It is a good remark of Montaigne's, that the wisest men often have friends, with whom they do not care how much THE DOUBLE TRANSFORMATION. A TALE.' SECLUDED from domestic strife, Made him the happiest man alive; Such pleasures, unalloy'd with care, they play the fool. Take my present follies as instances of regard. Poetry is a much easier, and more agreeable species of composition than prose, and could a man live by it, it were not unpleasant employment to be a poet."-GOLDSMITH, Letter to his Brother; see Letters, vol. iv. 1 First printed as Essay 26 in "Essays by Mr. Goldsmith," 1765, 12mo. 2 Here followed, in the first edition : "Without politeness, aim'd at breeding, 3 Here followed, in the first edition: "Our alter'd parson now began |