Lines Sent To Elia,

AFTER READING HIS ESSAY ON ROAST PIG, WITH A TRIBUTARY BASKET.

  Elia! thro' irony of hearts the mender,
  May this pig prove like thine own pathos—tender.
  Bear of thy sageness, in its sage, the zest;
  And quaintly crackle, like thy crackling jest.
  And—dry without—rich inly—as thy wit,
  Be worthy thee—as thou art worthy it.

PS.
  Beside the sty-born finding room to spare,
  Begs kind acceptance of himself—a hare.
  And since, being sylvan, he but ill indites,
  Hopes he may eat much better than he writes.