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
But do not thou, like that bold Chief, confide
Thy ventrous Footsteps to a female Guide;
She’ll lead thee, with delusivedelusive: beguiling; deceptive.
Smiles along,
Dive in thy Fob,Fob: "a small pocket" (Johnson). and drop thee in
the Throng.
Useful Precepts.
When waggishwaggish: knavish; joyfully mischievous; frolicksome. Boys the stunted BeesomBeesom: the modern equivalent of a broom. ply,
To rid the slabby Pavement; pass not by
E’re thou hast held their Hands; some heedless Flirt
Will over-spread thy Calves with spatt’ring Dirt.
Where Porters Hogsheads roll from Carts aslope,
Or Brewers down steep Cellars stretch the Rope,
Where counted BilletsBillets: pieces of wood cut for fuel. are by
CarmenCarmen: men whose employment is to drive carriages or chariots.
tost;
Stay thy rash Steps, and walk without the Post.without the Post: outside of the posts that demarcated the boundary between the walkway and the street.
Where, elevated o’er the gaping Croud,
Clasp’d in the Board, the perjur’d HeadClasp’d in the Board, the perjur’d Head: perjury was punishable by time spent in the pillory, a wooden framework with holes or rings to confine the head and hands, usually mounted above the crowd on a stage. The punishment often included such abuses by the crowd as verbal insults and taunts, being pelted with vegetables and eggs, and other assaults. is bow’d,
Betimes retreat; here, thick as Hail-stones pour,
Turnips and half-hatch’d Eggs (a mingled Show’r)
Among