BETWEEN THE BUSTS OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON AND MR. POPE The old Egyptians hid their wit In hieroglyphic dress, To give men pains to search for it, And please themselves with guess. Moderns, to tread the self-same path, And exercise our parts, Place figures in a room at Bath, -- Forgive them, God of Arts! Newton, if I can judge aright, All wisdom doth express; His knowledge gives mankind new light. And swells their happiness. Pope is the emblem of true wit, The sunshine of the mind; Read o'er his works for proof of it, You'll endless pleasure find. Nash represents man in the mass, Made up of wrong and right; Sometimes a knave, sometimes an ass, Now blunt, and now polite. The picture, placed the busts between, Adds to the thought much strength; Wisdom and Wit are little seen, But Folly's at full length. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SLEEPLESS NIGHT by SARA TEASDALE THE COLD NIGHT by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THISTLE by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THE DEATH OF SLAVERY by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE WHITE CHARGER by ABUS SALT A SUMMER SUMMARY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS PSALM 19. THE FIRST SIX VERSES by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE A CHILD'S FANCY by MATHILDE BLIND REMARKS ON A PAMPHLET ENTITLED, EPISTLES TO THE GREAT by JOHN BYROM |