Matthew Prior

Bid the Devil take the slowest.

Bid the Devil take the slowest.

Thy sum of duty let two words contain,
(O may they graven in thy heart remain!)
Be read more

Thy sum of duty let two words contain,
(O may they graven in thy heart remain!)
Be humble and be just.

Or have you mark'd a partridge quake,
Viewing the towering falcon nigh?
She cuddles low behind the read more

Or have you mark'd a partridge quake,
Viewing the towering falcon nigh?
She cuddles low behind the brake:
Nor would she stay; nor dares she fly.

You tell your doctor, that y' are ill
And what does he, but write a bill,
Of read more

You tell your doctor, that y' are ill
And what does he, but write a bill,
Of which you need not read one letter,
The worse the scrawl, the dose the better.
For if you knew but what you take,
Though you recover, he must break.

When Croft's "Life of Dr. Young" was spoken of as a good
imitation of Dr. Johnson's style, "No, no," read more

When Croft's "Life of Dr. Young" was spoken of as a good
imitation of Dr. Johnson's style, "No, no," said he, "it is not a
good imitation of Johnson; it has all his pomp without his force;
it has all the nodosities of the oak, without its strength; it
has all the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration."