Charles Churchill
Charles Churchill
air waste desert
Nor waste their sweetness in the desert air.
envy resentment whim
Though by whim, envy, or resentment led, they damn those authors whom they never read.
faults want copies
To copy faults is want of sense.
friendship hurt dread
Greatly his foes he dreads, but more his friends; He hurts me most who lavishly commends.
eye views hands
In the first seat, in robe of various dyes, A noble wildness flashing from his eyes, Sat Shakespeare: in one hand a wand he bore, For mighty wonders fam'd in days of yore: The other held a globe, which to his will Obedient turn'd, and own'd the master's skill: Things of the noblest kind his genius drew, And look'd through nature at a single view: A loose he gave to his unbounded soul, And taught new lands to rise, new seas to roll; Call'd into being scenes unknown before, And passing nature's bounds, was something more.
art brain curiosity
With curious art the brain, too finely wrought, Preys on herself, and is destroyed by thought.
country genius
Genius is of no country.
credit lies rest thee
Keep up appearances; there lies the test; The world will give thee credit for the rest
falls fault
Where he falls short, 'tis Nature's fault alone;/ Where he succeeds, the merit's all his own.
reputation
And reputation bleeds in ev'ry word.
woods flood command
The oak, when living, monarch of the wood; The English oak, which, dead, commands the flood.
haste speed worst
The more haste, ever the worst speed.
thrones virtue weak
Weak is that throne, and in itself unsound, Which takes not solid virtue for its ground.
doubt might sacred
This a sacred rule we find Among the nicest of mankind, (Which never might exception brook From Hobbes even down to Bolingbroke,) To doubt of facts, however true, Unless they know the causes too.