With Heav’n, for Two-pence, cheaply wipes his Score,wipes his Score: pays his debt.
Lifts up his Eyes, and hastes to beggar more.
Where the brass Knocker, wrapt in Flannel Band,
Forbids the Thunder of the Footman’s Hand;
Th’ Upholder,Upholder: undertaker. rueful Harbinger of Death
Waits, with Impatience, for the dying Breath;
As Vultures o’er a Camp, with hov’ring Flight,
Snuff up the future Carnage of the Fight.
Here canst thou pass, unmindful of a Pray’r,
That Heav’n in Mercy may thy Brother spare?
Come, F***F***: William Fortescue was Gay’s attorney friend and cousin by marriage. sincere, experienc’d Friend,
Thy Briefs, thy Deeds, and ev’n thy Fees, suspend;
Come, let us leave the Temple’s silent Walls,
Me Bus’ness to my distant Lodging calls:
Through
Through the long
Strand
together let us stray,
With thee conversing, I forget the Way.
Behold that
narrow Street, which steep descends,
Whose
Building
to the
slimy Shore
extends;
Here
Arundell’s
fam’d Structure
rear’d its Frame;Arundell’s fam’d Structure rear’d its Frame: the following lines reference
Thomas Howard Arundel’s large art collection which was held at Arundel House.
The
Street
alone retains an empty Name:
Where
Titian’sTitian: an Italian Renaissance painter, known for his work in the Venetian school. glowing Paint the Canvas warm’d,
And
Raphael’sRaphael: an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. fair Design with Judgment, charm’d,
Now hangs the Bell-man’s Song,the Bellman’s Song: could be either a broadside of verses about the bellman and his
function or one of the bellman’s various announcements written in verse (Dearing).
and pasted here,
The colour’d Prints of
OvertonOverton: Philip Overton, printseller at the White Horse or the Golden Buck two or three doors to the west of Mitre Court in Fleet Street. His brother and partner, Henry Overton, whose shop was the White Horse without Newgate near the Fountain Tavern, had published The Cryes of London, which Gay seems to have drawn upon in Trivia, in 1711.
appear.
Where Statues breath’d, the Work of
Phidias’Phidias: an Athenian sculptor, known for his role as artistic director in the construction of
the Parthenon.
Hands,
A wooden Pump or lonely
Watch-houseWatch-house: this watch-house was part of St. Clement Danes’ Parish. stands.
There
Essex
stately PileEssex stately Pile: most of Essex House was taken down in 1675-6.
adorn’d the Shore,
There
Cecil’s,
Bedford’s,
Villier’s,Cecil’s, Bedford’s, Villier’s: references to the mansions of William Cecil,
first Baron Burleigh (1520–1598), John Russell, first Earl of Bedford (1485–1555), and George Villiers,
first Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628), all of which were taken down or sold for develpment in the years
preceding the publication of Trivia. now no more.
Yet
Burlington’s fair
Palace
still remains;
Beauty within, without, Proportion reigns.
Beneath his Eye declining Art revives,
The Wall with animated Picture lives;
There