INSCRIPTIONS on a Monument to the memory of a Lady's Bullfinch

MemoriaeBlandientis VolucrisHunc LapidemposuitDAVID GARRICKet hoc Nobilissimae Luciae Officii suiTestimoniumquale quale estdicavit.

THE goddesses of wit and love Have patroniz'd the owl and dove; From whose protection both lay claim To immortality and fame:

Could wit alone, or beauty, give To birds the same prerogative; My double claim had fate defy'd, And Lucy's fav'rite ne'er had dy'd.

THOUGH here my body lies interr'd, I still can be a tell-tale bird: If DAVID should pollute these shades, And wanton with my lady's maids; Or DICK sneak out to field or park, To play with Mopsy in the dark; Or WILL, that noble, generous youth, Should err from wisdom, taste, and truth; And bless'd with all that's fair and good, Should quit a feast for grosser food: I'll rise again a restless sprite, Will haunt my lonely cage by night; There swell my throat, and plume my wing, And every tale to Lucy sing.