THE TASK. BOOK I.THE SOFA. ['THE history of the following production is briefly this: A lady. fond of blank verse, demanded a poem of that kind from the author, and gave him the SOFA for a subject. He obeyed; and having much leisure, connected another subject with it; and, pursuing the train of thought to which his situation and turn of mind led him, brought forth, at length, instead of the trifle which he at first intended, a serious affair-a Volume.'] I SING the Sofa. I, who lately sang Truth, Hope, and Charity, and touch'd with awe Time was, when clothing sumptuous or for use, B Wash'd by the sea, or on the grav'ly bank And sway'd the sceptre of his infant realms; At length a generation more refined And o'er the seat, with plenteous wadding stuff'd, Now came the cane from India, smooth and bright, With Nature's varnish; sever'd into stripes That interlaced each other, these supplied, Of texture firm, a lattice-work that braced The new machine, and it became a chair. But restless was the chair; the back erect Distress'd the weary loins that felt no ease; The slipp'ry seat betray'd the sliding part That press'd it, and the feet hung dangling down, Anxious in vain to find the distant floor |