A Court Alderman And Whisperer Of Secrets

Speak out, Sir! you're safe, for so ruddy your nose That, talk where you will, 'tis all under the Rose.

First published in Morning Post, Dec. 7, 1799. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 975. First collected Poems, 1907. Compare Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 35. Auf eine lange Nase.

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