Reply to Some Hudibrastics

O could I cull such rhymes as thou
dullest from under cloudless brow ;
Such as were erst the Faeries gift
To Butler and his godson Swift.
But here 'tis plainly seen that I'm
A very bad one at a rhyme.

The Graces now are past their dancing days,
The Muses have forgot their earlier lays,
And of the latter you would give a score
For one fresh ballad of light-hearted Moore.
Of the nine sisters eight are grown uncouth.
And even the ninth has lost the bloom of youth.

Some jealous poet may have written so ;
Is there truth in it ? Tell me, yes or no.