The pathless Grove in vain he wanders o’er;
Euryalus,
Euryalus: one of a
pair of doomed male lovers in The Aeneid, partnered with Nisus.
alas! is now no more.
Of inadvertent Walkers.
That Walker who, regardless of his Pace,
Turns oft to pore upon the Damsel’s Face,
From side to side by thrusting Elbows tost,
Shall strike his aching Breast against a post;
Or Water, dash’d from fishy Stalls, shall stain
His hapless Coat with Spirts of scaly Rain.
But if unwarily he chance to stray
Where twirling Turnstiles intercept the Way,
The thwarting Passenger shall force them round,
And beat the Wretch half breathless to the ground.
Useful Precepts.
Let constant Vigilance thy Footsteps guide,
And wary Circumspection guard thy Side;
Then shalt thou walk unarm’d the dang’rous Night,
Nor need th’ officious Link-Boy’s Link-Boy: (or Link-man)
a person employed to carry a light along London streets, so that people can see their way.
Smoky Light.
Thou
Thou never wilt attempt to cross the Road
Where Alehouse Benches rest the Porter’s Load,
Grievous to heedless Shins: No Barrow’s Wheel,
That bruises oft the Truant School-Boy’s Heel,
Behind thee rolling, with insidious Pace,
Shall mark thy Stocking with a miry Trace.
Let not thy vent’rous Steps approach too nigh
Where, gaping wide, low steepy Cellars lie:
Should thy Shoe wrench aside, down, down you fall,
And overturn the scolding Huckster’sHuckster: merchant selling their wares in a small shop or stall. The word often has a connotation
that specifically denotes that the seller is an unscrupulous or unethical.
stall,
The scolding Huckster shall not o’er thee moan,
But Pence exact for Nuts and Pears o’erthrown.
Though you through cleanlier Allies wind by Day,
Safety first of all to be consider’d.
To shun the Hurries of the public Way,
Yet ne’er to those dark Paths by Night retire;
Mind only Safety, and contemn the Mire.
Then