PROVERBS by JAMES SMITH (1775-1839)

MY good Aunt Bridget, spite of age,
Versed in Valerian, Dock, and Sage,
Well knew the virtues @3of@1 herbs;
But Proverbs gain'd her chief applause,
"Child," she exclaim'd, "respect old saws,
And pin your faith on Proverbs."

Thus taught, I dubb'd my lot secure;
And, playing long-rope, "slow and sure,"
Conceived my movement clever.
When lo! an urchin by my side
Push'd me head foremost in, and cried
"Keep Moving," "Now or Never."

At Melton next I join'd the hunt,
Of bogs and bushes bore the brunt.
Nor once my courser held in;
But when I saw a yawning steep,
I thought of "Look before you leap,"
And curb'd my eager gelding.

While doubtful thus I rein'd my roan,
Willing to save a fractured bone,
Yet fearful of exposure;
A sportsman thus my spirit stirred --
"Delays are dangerous," -- I spurred
My steed, and leaped the enclosure.

I ogled Jane, who heard me say,
That "Rome was not built in a day,"
When lo! Sir Fleet O'Grady
Put this, my saw, to sea again,
And proved, by running off with Jane,
"Faint heart ne'er won fair Lady."

Aware "New brooms sweep clean," I took
An untaught tyro for a cook,
(The tale I tell a fact is;)
She spoilt my soup: but, when I chid,
She thus once more my work undid,
"Perfection comes from Practice."

Thus, out of every adage hit,
And, finding that ancestral wit
As changeful as the clime is:
From Proverbs, turning on my heel,
I now cull Wisdom from my seal,
Whose motto's "Ne quid nimis."

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