On both sides of his noddle

Are straps o' th' very same leather;
Ears are imply'd,

But they're mere hide,

Beneath, a tuft of bristles,

As rough as a frieze-jerkin;
If it had been a beard,

"Twould have serv'd a herd

Of goats, that are of his near kin.

Within, a set of grinders

Most sharp and keen, corroding

Your iron and brass

As easy as

That you would do a pudding.

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55

But the strangest thing of all is,
Upon his rump there groweth
A great long tail,

That useth to trail

Upon the ground as he goeth.

A BALLAD,

IN TWO PARTS, CONJECTURED TO BE ON
OLIVER CROMWELL.

ΤΗ

PART II.

HIS monster was begotten
Upon one of the witches,

B' an imp that came to her,

Like a man, to woo her,

80

With black doublet and breeches.

5

When he was whelp'd, for certain,

In divers several countries,
The hogs and swine

Did grunt and whine,

And the ravens croak'd upon trees.

10

The winds did blow, the thunder
And lightning loud did rumble;
The dogs did howl,

The hollow tree in th' owl

'Tis a good horse that ne'er stumbled.

15

14 This whimsical liberty our Author takes of transposing the words for the sake of a rhyme, though at the expense of the sense, is a new kind of poetic license; and it is merry

As soon as he was brought forth,
At the midwife's throat he flew,
And threw the pap

Down in her lap;

They say 'tis very true.

And up the walls he clamber'd,

With nails most sharp and keen,
The prints whereof,

I' th' boards and roof,

Are yet for to be seen.

And out o' th' top o' th' chimney

He vanish'd, seen of none;
For they did wink,

Yet by the stink

Knew which way he was gone.

The country round about there

Became like to a wildern

ess; for the sight

Of him did fright

30

25

30

Away men, women, and children.

35

Long did he there continue,

And all those parts much harmed,
Till a wise-woman, which

Some call a white-witch,

Him into a hog-sty charmed.

40

enough to observe, that he literally does, what he jokingly

charges upon other poets in another place:

But those that write in rhyme still make

The one verse for the other's sake;

For one for sense, and one for rhyme,

I think's sufficient at one time. Hud. p. 2. c. 1. v. 27.

There, when she had him shut fast,
With brimstone and with nitre
She sing'd the claws

Of his left paws,

With tip of his tail, and his right ear.

And with her charms and ointments
She made him tame as a spaniel;

For she us'd to ride

On his back astride,

Nor did he do her any ill.

But, to the admiration

Of all both far and near,

He hath been shown

In every town,

And eke in every shire.

And now, at length, he's brought

Unto fair London city,

Where in Fleet-street

All those may see 't

That will not believe my ditty.

God save the King and Parliament,
And eke the Prince's highness,
And quickly send

The wars an end,

As here my song has—Finis.

45

50

55

60

65

61 From this circumstance it appears, that this ballad was written before the murder of the king, and that it is the earliest performance of Butler's that has yet been made public.

A

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS.*

LL men's intrigues and projects tend,
By sev'ral courses, to one end;
To compass, by the prop'rest shows,
Whatever their designs propose;
And that which owns the fair'st pretext
Is often found the indirect'st.

Hence 'tis that hypocrites still paint
Much fairer than the real saint,

And knaves appear more just and true

5

Than honest men, that make less show;
The dullest idiots in disguise

10

Appear more knowing than the wise;
Illiterate dunces, undiscern'd,

Pass on the rabble for the learn'd;

And cowards, that can damn and rant,
Pass muster for the valiant:

15

For he that has but impudence,
To all things has a just pretence,
And, put among his wants but shame,
To all the world may lay his claim.

20

This, and the other little Sketches that follow, were,

among many of the same kind, fairly written out by Butler, in a sort of poetical Thesaurus.