Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Poem
December 8, 1758
The New Hampshire Gazette
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
A satirical poem vividly describing London's mix of grand and gritty elements, including buildings, trades, social classes, rogues, and women, ending with a rhetorical question about liking it.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
A Description of LONDON.
Houses, Churches together;
Prisons. Palaces, contiguous;
Gates: a Bridge; the Thames irriguous.
Gaudy Things enough to tempt ye:
Showy Outsides; Insides empty;
Bubbles. Trades. Mechanic Arts:
Coaches. Wheel barrows, and Carts.
Warrants. Bailiffs. Bills unpaid;
Lords. of Laundresses afraid;
Rogues that nightly rob and shoot Men:
Hangmen, Aldermen, and Footmen.
Lawyers, Poets, Priests, Physicians
Noble. simple, all Conditions;
Worth beneath a Thread-bare Cover;
Villany bedawb'd all over.
Women, black, red, fair, and grey:
Prudes, and such as never pray;
Handsome, ugly, noisy, still;
Some that will not: some that will.
Many a Beau without a Shilling:
Many a Widow not unwilling;
Many a Bargain, if you strike it:
This is LONDON! How d'ye like it?
Houses, Churches together;
Prisons. Palaces, contiguous;
Gates: a Bridge; the Thames irriguous.
Gaudy Things enough to tempt ye:
Showy Outsides; Insides empty;
Bubbles. Trades. Mechanic Arts:
Coaches. Wheel barrows, and Carts.
Warrants. Bailiffs. Bills unpaid;
Lords. of Laundresses afraid;
Rogues that nightly rob and shoot Men:
Hangmen, Aldermen, and Footmen.
Lawyers, Poets, Priests, Physicians
Noble. simple, all Conditions;
Worth beneath a Thread-bare Cover;
Villany bedawb'd all over.
Women, black, red, fair, and grey:
Prudes, and such as never pray;
Handsome, ugly, noisy, still;
Some that will not: some that will.
Many a Beau without a Shilling:
Many a Widow not unwilling;
Many a Bargain, if you strike it:
This is LONDON! How d'ye like it?
What sub-type of article is it?
Satire
Epigram
What themes does it cover?
Satire Society
What keywords are associated?
London Satire
Urban Description
Social Critique
City Vices
Rhymed Couplets
Poem Details
Title
A Description Of London.
Subject
Satirical Description Of London
Form / Style
Rhymed Couplets
Key Lines
Gaudy Things Enough To Tempt Ye:
Showy Outsides; Insides Empty;
Rogues That Nightly Rob And Shoot Men:
Hangmen, Aldermen, And Footmen.
This Is London! How D'ye Like It?