[Asterisks used as side/footnote references are from the original
text.]

Poetical Reflections
ON A POEM,

CALLED
Absolon and Achitophel.


When late Protectorship was Canon-Proof,
And _Cap-a-pe_ had seiz'd on _Whitehall_-Roof,
And next, on _Israelites_ durst look so big,
That _Tory-like_, it lov'd not much the _Whigg_:
A Poet there starts up, of wondrous Fame;
Whether _Scribe_ or _Pharisee_, his Race doth name,
Or more t'intrigue the Metaphor of Man,
Got on a Muse by _Father-Publican_:
[Sidenote: A Committee-Man.]
For 'tis not harder much, if we tax Nature,
That Lines should give a Poet such a Feature;
Than that his Verse a _Hero_ should us show,
[Sidenote: _Sir Denzill Hollis_ seeks _annum mirabilis_.]
Produc'd by such a Feat, as famous too.
His Mingle such, what Man presumes to think,
But he can Figures daub with Pen and Ink.
A Grace our mighty _Nimrod_ late beheld,
When he within the Royal Palace dwell'd,
And saw 'twas of import if Lines could bring