At ev’ry Step he dreads the Wall to lose,
And risques, to save a Coach, his red-heel’d Shoes;
Him, like the Miller, pass with Caution by,
Lest from his Shoulder Clouds of Powder fly.
To whom to refuse the Wall.
But when the Bully, with assuming Pace,
Cocks his broad Hat, edg’d round with tarnish’d Lace,
Yield not the Way; defie his strutting Pride,
And thrust him to the muddy Kennel’s side;
He never turns again, nor dares oppose,
But mutters coward Curses as he goes.
Of whom to enquire the Way.
If drawn by Bus’ness to a Street unknown
Let the sworn Portersworn Porter: one who is legally a member of the Fellowship or Society of Porters, a corporation of the City of London. point thee through the Town;
Be sure observe the Signs,Signs: signs were so plentiful that they could impede progress through the streets, but were necessary for finding one’s way before the houses and buildings of the city were numbered. for Signs remain,
Like faithful Land-marks to the walking Train.
Seek not from PrenticesPrentices: apprentices; young men who were contractually bound to serve a man of trade for a certain term of years, usually seven, on the condition that the tradesman instructs him in the trade. to learn the Way,
Those fablingFabling: inventing.
Boys will turn thy Steps astray;
Ask
Ask the grave Tradesman to direct thee right,
He ne’er deceives, but when he profits by’t.
Where fam’d
Saint Giles’s ancient Limits spread,
An inrail’dinrail’d: closed in with a railing.
Column rears its lofty Head,
Here to sev’n Streets, sev’n Dialsseven Dials: where seven streets converge. This was named after a column which had seven
sun-dials, each one facing a different street.
count the Day,
And from each other catch the circling Ray.
Here oft the Peasant, with enquiring Face,
Bewilder’d, trudges on from Place to Place;
He dwells on ev’ry Sign, with stupid Gaze,
Enters the narrow Alley’s doubtful Maze;
Trys ev’ry winding Court and Street in vain,
And doubles o’er his weary Steps again.
Thus hardy
Theseus,Theseus: a Greek hero, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The son of Aegeus, King of Athens.
with intrepid Feet,
Travers’d the dang’rous Labyrinth of
Crete;Labyrinth of Crete: an elaborate, Grecian structure, like a maze, constructed by Daedalus for
King Minos. Its intended purpose was to entrap the Minotaur, a monstrous beast half bull and half man.
But still the wand’ring Passes forc’d his Stay,
Till
Ariadne’s ClueAriadne’s Clue: Ariadne was a Cretan princess and the daughter of King Minos. Ariadne gave Theseus
a ball of thread which he unwound as he went
through the labyrinth, to aid him in finding his way out again. The couple escaped after Theseus slayed the Minotaur. He then abandoned Ariadne. According to one legend she hanged herself; according to another, he left her at Naxos to die, where she was rescued by the god Dionysus who married her. As Brant and Whyman comment, this aspect of the myth makes Gay’s next lines about female duplicity more misogynist.
unwinds the Way.
But