On a Change of Masters at a Great Public Schools

1. 1Where are those honours, IDA! once your own,
2. 2When Probus fill'd your magisterial throne?
3. 3As ancient Rome, fast falling to disgrace,
4. 4Hail'd a Barbarian in her Cæsar's place,
5. 5So you, degenerate, share as hard a fate,
6. 6And seat Pomposus where your Probus sate.
7. 7Of narrow brain, yet of a narrower soul,
8. 8Pomposus holds you in his harsh controul;
9. 9Pomposus, by no social virtue sway'd,
10. 10With florid jargon, and with vain parade;
11. 11With noisy nonsense, and new-fangled rules,
12. 12(Such as were ne'er before enforc'd in schools.)
13. 13Mistaking pedantry for learning's laws,
14. 14He governs, sanction'd but by self-applause;
15. 15With him the same dire fate, attending Rome,
16. 16Ill-fated Ida! soon must stamp your doom:
17. 17Like her o'erthrown, for ever lost to fame,
18. 18No trace of science left you, but the name.