The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore
Chapter 199 : Never yet in all their lives lookt so little!REINFORCEMENTS FOR LORD WELLINGTON._suosq

Never yet in all their lives lookt so little!

REINFORCEMENTS FOR LORD WELLINGTON.

_suosque tibi commendat, Troja Penates hos cape fatorum comites_.

VERGIL.

1813.

As recruits in these times are not easily got And the Marshal _must_ have them--pray, why should we not, As the last and, I grant it, the worst of our loans to him, s.h.i.+p off the Ministry, body and bones to him?

There's not in all England, I'd venture to swear, Any men we could half so conveniently spare; And tho' they've been helping the French for years past, We may thus make them useful to England at last.

Castlereagh in our sieges might save some disgraces, Being used to the _taking_ and _keeping_ of _places_; And Volunteer Canning, still ready for joining, Might show off his talent for sly _under-mining_.

Could the Household but spare us its glory and pride, Old Headfort at _horn-works_ again might be tried, And as Chief Justice make a _bold charge_ at his side: While Vansittart could victual the troops _upon tick_, And the Doctor look after the baggage and sick.

Nay, I do not see why the great Regent himself Should in times such as these stay at home on the shelf: Tho' thro' narrow defiles he's not fitted to pa.s.s, Yet who could resist, if he bore down _en ma.s.se_?

And tho' oft of an evening perhaps he might prove, Like our Spanish confederates, "unable to move,"[1]

Yet there's _one_ thing in war of advantage unbounded, Which is, that he could not with ease be _surrounded_.

In my next I shall sing of their arms and equipment: At present no more, but--good luck to the s.h.i.+pment!

[1] The character given to the Spanish soldier, in Sir John Murray's memorable despatch.

HORACE, ODE I. LIB. III.

A FRAGMENT.

_odi profanum, valgus et arceo; favete linguis: carmina non prius audila Musarum sacerdos virginibus puerisque canto.

regum timendorum in proprios greges, reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis_.

1813.

I hate thee, oh, Mob, as my Lady hates delf; To Sir Francis I'll give up thy claps and thy hisses, Leave old Magna Charta to s.h.i.+ft for itself, And, like G.o.dwin, write books for young masters and misses.

Oh! it _is_ not high rank that can make the heart merry, Even monarchs themselves are not free from mishap: Tho' the Lords of Westphalia must quake before Jerry, Poor Jerry himself has to quake before Nap.

HORACE, ODE x.x.xVIII. LIB. I.

A FRAGMENT.

_persico odi, puer, adparatus; displicent nexae philyra coronae;_ mitte sectari, _Rosa_ quo locorum sera moretur.

TRANSLATED BY A TREASURY CLERK, WHILE WAITING DINNER FOR THE RIGHT HON.

GEORGE ROBE.

Boy, tell the Cook that I hate all nicknackeries.

Frica.s.sees, vol-au-vents, puffs, and gim-crackeries-- Six by the Horse-Guards!--old Georgy is late-- But come--lay the table-cloth--zounds! do not wait, Nor stop to inquire, while the dinner is staying, At which of his places Old Rose is delaying!

IMPROMPTU.

UPON BEING OBLIGED TO LEAVE A PLEASANT PARTY, FROM THE WANT OF A PAIR OF BREECHES TO DRESS FOR DINNER IN.

1810.

Between Adam and me the great difference is, Tho' a paradise each has been forced to resign, That he never wore breeches, till turned out of his, While for want of my breeches, I'm banisht from mine.

LORD WELLINGTON AND THE MINISTERS.

1813.

So gently in peace Alcibiades smiled, While in battle he shone forth so terribly grand, That the emblem they graved on his seal, was a child With a thunderbolt placed in its innocent hand.

Oh Wellington, long as such Ministers wield Your magnificent arm, the same emblem will do; For while _they_'re in the Council and _you_ in the Field.