"The veriest carl that nature ever made, / Heir to the flail, the wallet, and the spade, / Boasts in fair freedom's isle a free-born mind, / And sighs to share the birth-right of his kind."
— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Messrs. Longman and Rees ... and T. Becket ... By W. Dyde [etc.]
Date
1802
Metaphor
"The veriest carl that nature ever made, / Heir to the flail, the wallet, and the spade, / Boasts in fair freedom's isle a free-born mind, / And sighs to share the birth-right of his kind."
Metaphor in Context
Then learn at length to reverence the Poor,
And weave a garland round the cottage door;
Let grateful wealth do homage to the bower,
From whose first lords came riches, ease, and power.
Yes, reverence the Poor! but ah! how wide,
The barrier stands 'twixt equity and pride!
The means of life the Poor are now refus'd,
Power, riches, ease, and plenty, all abus'd;
Yet were what appetite exacts bestow'd,
A mere sufficiency of drink and food,
Thinkst thou, O little skill'd in human kind!
The rational, who can perceive a mind
Stir as the god within, like beasts can feed,
The harness'd oxen, or the bridled steed,
And then, a pause of reason and of sense?
O be such tyrant precepts banish'd hence;
Far, far, from England be such maxims sown,
There, still may sense and reason have a throne!
The veriest carl that nature ever made,
Heir to the flail, the wallet, and the spade,
Boasts in fair freedom's isle a free-born mind,
And sighs to share the birth-right of his kind;
With daily bread, sweet liberty must come,
And happy choice, to eat that bread at home,
In his own ground, his own kind cow must graze,
On his own hearth the frugal faggot blaze;
In his own garden must his herbs have grown,
Alike the labours and rewards his own.
And weave a garland round the cottage door;
Let grateful wealth do homage to the bower,
From whose first lords came riches, ease, and power.
Yes, reverence the Poor! but ah! how wide,
The barrier stands 'twixt equity and pride!
The means of life the Poor are now refus'd,
Power, riches, ease, and plenty, all abus'd;
Yet were what appetite exacts bestow'd,
A mere sufficiency of drink and food,
Thinkst thou, O little skill'd in human kind!
The rational, who can perceive a mind
Stir as the god within, like beasts can feed,
The harness'd oxen, or the bridled steed,
And then, a pause of reason and of sense?
O be such tyrant precepts banish'd hence;
Far, far, from England be such maxims sown,
There, still may sense and reason have a throne!
The veriest carl that nature ever made,
Heir to the flail, the wallet, and the spade,
Boasts in fair freedom's isle a free-born mind,
And sighs to share the birth-right of his kind;
With daily bread, sweet liberty must come,
And happy choice, to eat that bread at home,
In his own ground, his own kind cow must graze,
On his own hearth the frugal faggot blaze;
In his own garden must his herbs have grown,
Alike the labours and rewards his own.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
07/27/2004
Date of Review
07/19/2011
