XII Mon. February [1746] hath xxviii days.
XII Mon. February [1746] hath xxviii days.
1Man’s rich with little, were his Judgment true,
2Nature is frugal, and her Wants are few;
3Those few Wants answer’d, bring sincere Delights,
4But Fools create themselves new Appetites.
5Fancy and Pride seek Things at vast Expence,
6Which relish not to Reason nor to Sense
Notes
7] airpump: OED ‘air-pump,’ citing Addison in The Spectator, no. 21 (1711): “For want of other Patients [they] amuse themselves with the stifling of Cats in an Air-Pump.” Back to Line
8] Copied from Edward Young’s “Satire V. On Women,” lines 167-72, 177-78. Back to Line
Publication Notes
The Complete Poor Richard Almanacks, intro. Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., Vol. 1, 1733-1747 (Barre, Massachusetts: The Imprint Society, Inc., 1970): 320. PS 749 A3 1970 Robarts Library
First published in 1746.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire