1803.17
To a dead Jack-Ass
“J. D. Rusticus"
The European Magazine, LIX (1803), p. 302

Farewell! thou amorous animal, farewell!
    Thy patience so much longer than thine ears,
None but a Yorick's tender pen could tell,
    And call, from Christian's eyes, a flood of tears!

But what avail'd thy patience, or thine ears?
    Or what the love-lorn notes thou once didst pour,
When, as thy fav'rite pass'd, thou stood'st in gears,
    Tied with a halter, at my grannam's door?

O! as she pass'd, how didst thou raise thy tone!
    And mighty proofs of love didst thou reveal!
And sometimes thou would'st bray, and sometimes groan,
    Expressive of the passion thou did'st feel!

Thou had'st more worth than Macedonia's King,
    Than Julius Caesar, or than Bonaparte!
The friend of man, and not his foe, I sing!
    They drew a dagger, and you drew a cart.

Detested names! Oh, what a fatal three!
    Thank Heaven! before thee two are gone to dust!
The other soon, I hope, will follow thee,
    For follow thee assuredly he must!

Yes! he must die, tho' Frenchmen cry, alas!
    Thus falls the hero, and thus falls the ass!

Cottage of Mon Repos,
Sept. 29, 1803.