English Poetry. Oliver Goldsmith. Description of an Author’s Bedchamber. Оливер Голдсмит.

Oliver Goldsmith (Оливер Голдсмит)

Description of an Author’s Bedchamber

WHERE the Red Lion flaring o'er the way,
Invites each passing stranger that can pay;
Where Calvert's butt, and Parsons' black champagne,
Regale the drabs and bloods of Drury-lane;
There in a lonely room, from bailiffs snug,
The Muse found Scroggen stretch'd beneath a rug;
A window, patch'd with paper, lent a ray,
That dimly show'd the state in which he lay;
The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread;
The humid wall with paltry pictures spread:
The royal game of goose was there in view,
And the twelve rules the royal martyr drew;
The seasons, fram'd with listing, found a place,
And brave prince William show'd his lamp-black face:
The morn was cold, he views with keen desire
The rusty grate unconscious of a fire;
With beer and milk arrears the frieze was scor'd,
And five crack'd teacups dress'd the chimney board;
A nightcap deck'd his brows instead of bay,
A cap by night-a stocking all the day! 

Oliver Goldsmith’s other poems:

1. Answer to an Invitation to Pass the Christmas at Barton
2. On Seeing a Lady Perform a Certain Character
3. From the Latin of Vida
4. Song, from the Comedy of “She Stoops to Conquer”
5. A Sonnet

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