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Men are more satirical from vanity than from malice.
Men are more satirical from vanity than from malice.
There are, to whom my satire seems too bold;
Scarce to wise Peter complaisant enough,
And something read more
There are, to whom my satire seems too bold;
Scarce to wise Peter complaisant enough,
And something said of Chartres much too rough.
Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies
about them when they die.
[Fr., La read more
Satire lies about literary men while they live and eulogy lies
about them when they die.
[Fr., La satire ment sur les gens de lettres pendant leur vie, et
l'eloge ment apres leur mort.]
Satire or sense, alas! Can Sporus feel?
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?
Satire or sense, alas! Can Sporus feel?
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?
Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering teach the rest to sneer;
Willing read more
Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering teach the rest to sneer;
Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,
Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike;
Alike reserv'd to blame, or to commend,
A tim'rous foe, and a suspicious friend.
I wear my Pen as others do their Sword.
To each affronting sot I meet, the word
read more
I wear my Pen as others do their Sword.
To each affronting sot I meet, the word
Is Satisfaction: straight to thrusts I go,
And pointed satire runs him through and through.
Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally
discover everybody's face but their own.
Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally
discover everybody's face but their own.
Satire should, like a polished razor keen,
Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen.
Thine read more
Satire should, like a polished razor keen,
Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen.
Thine is an oyster knife, that hacks and hews;
The rage but not the talent to abuse.
Unless a love of virtue light the flame,
Satire is, more than those he brands, to blame;
read more
Unless a love of virtue light the flame,
Satire is, more than those he brands, to blame;
He hides behind a magisterial air
He own offences, and strips others' bare.