Who to patch up his fame, or fill his purse, Still pilfers wretched plans, and makes them worse; Like gypsies, lest the stolen brat be known, Defacing first, then claiming for his own.2
Note 1. Si vis me flere, dolendum est Primum ipsi tibi (If you wish me to weep, you yourself must first feel grief). Horace: Ars Poetica, v. 102. [back]
Note 2. Steal! to be sure they may; and, egad, serve your best thoughts as gypsies do stolen children,disguise them to make em pass for their own.Richard Brinsley Sheridan: The Critic, act i. sc. i. [back]
Note 3. England, with all thy faults I love thee still, My country! William Cowper: The Task, book ii. The Timepiece, line 206. [back]
Note 4. Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam.Lord Byron: The Corsair, canto i. stanza 1. [back]