Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON BEAU NASH'S PICTURE AT BATH, by JANE (HUGHES) BRERETON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON BEAU NASH'S PICTURE AT BATH, by                
First Line: The old egyptians hid their wit
Last Line: But folly's at full length.
Subject(s): Nash, Beau (1674-1761)


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.





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