As one of these, in days of yore,
Rummag'd a shop of learning o'er,
Not like our modern dealers, minding
Only the margin's breadth and binding;
A book his curious eye detains,
Where, with exactest care and pains,
Were ev'ry beast and bird portray'd,
That e'er the search of man survey'd.
Their natures and their powers were writ
With all the pride of human wit;
The page he with attention spread,
And thus remark'd on what he read.