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ON A TUFT-HUNTER by THOMAS MOORE

First Line: LAMENT, LAMENT, SIR ISAAC HEARD
Last Line: THAN SAV'D IN VULGAR COMPANY.
Subject(s): EPITAPHS; VANITY;

Lament, lament, Sir Isaac Heard,
Put mourning round thy page, Debrett,
For here lies one, who ne'er preferr'd
A Viscount to a Marquis yet.

Beside him place the God of Wit,
Before him Beauty's rosiest girls,
Apollo for a star he'd quit,
And Love's own sister for an Earl's.

Did niggard fate no peers afford,
He took, of course, to peers' relations;
And, rather than not sport a Lord,
Put up with even the last creations.

Even Irish names, could he but tag 'em
With "Lord" and "Duke", were sweet to call;
And, at a pinch, Lord Ballyraggum
Was better than no Lord at all.

Heaven grant him now some noble nook,
For, rest his soul! he'd rather be
Genteelly damn'd beside a Duke,
Than sav'd in vulgar company.




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