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On a Change of Masters at a Great Public School

Lord Byron·1788–1824
Lines:18Movement:Romanticism
Where are those honours, IDA! once your own,When Probus fill'd your magisterial throne?As ancient Rome, fast falling to disgrace,Hail'd a Barbarian in her Cæsar's place,So you, degenerate, share as hard a fate,And seat _Pomposus_ where your _Probus_ sate.Of narrow brain, yet of a narrower soul,Pomposus holds you in his harsh controul;Pomposus, by no social virtue sway'd,With florid jargon, and with vain parade;With noisy nonsense, and new-fangled rules,(Such as were ne'er before enforc'd in schools.)Mistaking _pedantry_ for _learning's_ laws,He governs, sanction'd but by self-applause;With him the same dire fate, attending Rome,Ill-fated Ida! soon must stamp your doom:Like her o'erthrown, for ever lost to fame,No trace of science left you, but the name,