ONE AND TWENTY.
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Long-expected one-and-twenty,Lingering year, at length is flown:Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty,Great * * *, are now your own. 2 Loosen'd from the minor's tether,Free to mortgage or to sell,Wild as wind, and light as feather,Bid the sons of thrift farewell. 3 Call the Betsies, Kates, and Jennies,All the names that banish care;Lavish of your grandsire's guineas,Show the spirit of an heir. 4 All that prey on vice and follyJoy to see their quarry fly:There the gamester, light and jolly;There the lender, grave and sly. 5 Wealth, my lad, was made to wander,Let it wander as it will;Call the jockey, call the pander,Bid them come and take their fill. 6 When the bonny blade carouses,Pockets full, and spirits high--What are acres? what are houses?Only dirt, or wet, or dry. 7 Should the guardian friend or motherTell the woes of wilful waste:Scorn their counsel, scorn their pother,You can hang or drown at last. [Footnote 1: Supposed to be Percy.] * * * * *
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