With pomp obsequious, bending in his pride;
Round all the place his eyes all objects meet,
Attentive, silent, civil, and discreet. 
O’er all within the lady-hostess rules,
Her bar she governs, and her kitchen schools;
To every guest th’ appropriate speech is made,
And every duty with distinction paid;
Respectful, easy, pleasant, or polite —
“Your honour’s servant”—­“Mister Smith, good night.” 
   Next, but not near, yet honour’d through the town,
There swing, incongruous pair! the Bear and Crown: 
That Crown suspended gems and ribands deck,
A golden chain hangs o’er that furry neck: 
Unlike the nobler beast, the Bear is bound,
And with the Crown so near him, scowls uncrown’d;
Less his dominion, but alert are all
Without, within, and ready for the call;
Smart lads and light run nimbly here and there,
Nor for neglected duties mourns the Bear. 
   To his retreats, on the Election-day,
The losing party found their silent way;
There they partook of each consoling good,
Like him uncrown’d, like him in sullen mood —
Threat’ning, but bound.—­Here meet a social kind,
Our various clubs for various cause combined;
Nor has he pride, but thankful takes as gain
The dew-drops shaken from the Lion’s mane: 
A thriving couple here their skill display,
And share the profits of no vulgar sway. 
   Third in our Borough’s list appears the sign
Of a fair queen—­the gracious Caroline;
But in decay—­each feature in the face
Has stain of Time, and token of disgrace. 
The storm of winter, and the summer-sun,
Have on that form their equal mischief done;
The features now are all disfigured seen,
And not one charm adorns th’ insulted queen. 
To this poor face was never paint applied,
Th’ unseemly work of cruel Time to hide;
Here we may rightly such neglect upbraid,
Paint on such faces is by prudence laid. 
Large the domain, but all within combine
To correspond with the dishonoured sign;
And all around dilapidates; you call —
But none replies—­they’re inattentive all: 
At length a ruin’d stable holds your steed,
While you through large and dirty rooms proceed,
Spacious and cold; a proof they once had been
In honour,—­now magnificently mean;
Till in some small half-furnish’d room you rest,
Whose dying fire denotes it had a guest. 
In those you pass’d, where former splendour reign’d,
You saw the carpets torn, the paper stain’d;
Squares of discordant glass in windows fix’d,
And paper oil’d in many a space betwixt;
A soil’d and broken sconce, a mirror crack’d,
With table underpropp’d, and chairs new back’d;
A marble side-slab with ten thousand stains,
And all an ancient Tavern’s poor remains. 
   With much entreaty, they your food prepare,
And acid wine afford, with meagre fare;
Heartless you sup; and when a dozen times
You’ve read the fractured window’s senseless