Charles Churchill
Charles Churchill
hurt praise hurt-me
He hurts me most who lavishly commends.
credit lies rest thee
Keep up appearances; there lies the test; The world will give thee credit for the rest
famous mouths plots statesman
Statesman all over, in plots famous grown,/ He mouths a sentence, as curs mouth a bone.
empty loud
So loud each tongue, so empty was each head, / So much they talked, so very little said.
falls fault
Where he falls short, 'tis Nature's fault alone;/ Where he succeeds, the merit's all his own.
country genius
Genius is of no country.
law lawyer suspects
The laws I love; the lawyers I suspect.
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.
dream writing self
Enough of self, that darling luscious theme, O'er which philosophers in raptures dream; Of which with seeming disregard they write Then prizing most when most they seem to slight.
wise men giving
Satire, whilst envy and ill-humor sway The mind of man, must always make her way; Nor to a bosom, with discretion fraught, Is all her malice worth a single thought. The wise have not the will, nor fools the power, To stop her headstrong course; within the hour Left to herself, she dies; opposing strife Gives her fresh vigor, and prolongs her life.
men reason poor
Drawn by conceit from reason's plan How vain is that poor creature man; How pleas'd in ev'ry paltry elf To grate about that thing himself.
purple shining vices
Though folly, robed in purple, shines, Though vice exhausts Peruvian mines, Yet shall they tremble and turn pale When satire wields her mighty flail.
reputation
And reputation bleeds in ev'ry word.
religion saint mercy
The rigid saint, by whom no mercy's shown To saints whose lives are better than his own.