Lady Betty[2] presents you her service most humble,
And is not afraid your worship will grumble,
That she make of your verses a hoop for Miss Tam.[3]
Which is all at present; and so I remain--
[Footnote 1: There were four human figures in the centre of the circular
verses.--_F._]
[Footnote 2: Daughter of the Earl of Drogheda, and married to George
Rochfort, Esq.--_F._]
[Footnote 3: Miss Thomason, Lady Betty's daughter, then, perhaps, about a
year old; afterwards married to Gustavus Lambert, Esq., of Paynstown,
in the county of Meath.--_Scott._]
ON DR. SHERIDAN'S CIRCULAR VERSES
BY MR. GEORGE ROCHFORT
With music and poetry equally blest,
A bard thus Apollo most humbly addrest:
"Great author of harmony, verses, and light!
Assisted by thee, I both fiddle and write.
Yet unheeded I scrape, or I scribble all day,
My verse is neglected, my tunes thrown away.
Thy substitute here, Vice Apollo, disdains
To vouch for my numbers, or list to my strains;
Thy manual signet refuses to put
To the airs I produce from the pen or the gut.
Be thou then propitious, great Phoebus! and grant
Relief, or reward, to my merit, or want.
Though the Dean and Delany transcendently shine,
O brighten one solo or sonnet of mine!
With them I'm content thou shouldst make thy abode;
But visit thy servant in jig or in ode;
Make one work immortal: 'tis all I request.
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