THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN OR THE FOLLY OF MAN EXEMPLIFIED IN TWELVE COMICAL RELATIONS UPON UNCOMMON SUBJECTS
Reading edition
Illustrated with Twelve curious Cuts Truly adapted to each Story
Printed and Sold in London
"Philosophers of old will tell us, As Tycho, and such merry fellows, That round this habitable ball The beamy sun did yearly fall; No wonder then the world is found By change of place Turn'd Upside Down; If revolutions strange appear Within the compass of the sphere; If men and things succession know, And no dependance reigns below; Since tis allow'd the world we dwell in, Is always round the sun a sailing; Experience to our knowledge brings; That times may change as well as things, And art than nature wiser grown, Turns every object upside down, Whim's epidemic takes her rise, And constancy's become a vice. He that to do is fortunate, The darling minions of his fate! To morrow feels his fate's displeasure, Spoil'd his hoarded idol treasure! And like this man, his emblem shows, A sudden revolution knows. His fortune grows profoundly scurvy Turns the poor earthworms topsy turvy, Becomes the tennis ball of fools, Things quite form'd out of nature's rules. Such as you see Atlas bear Upon their backs this mighty sphere. The young, the old, the middle aged, Are all in this great task engaged; And strive with wondrous eagerness Which all the greatest part possess. Since folly then has got the ascendant, He's most a fool that han't a hand in't; And as the mad brain'd world runs round Still keeps towards the rising ground."
This is quite enough for a specimen of the style of this poem, and, luckily, the illustrations explain themselves.
THE OX TURNED FARMER.
THE OLD SOLDIER TURNED NURSE.
THE REWARD OF ROGUERY, OR THE ROASTED COOK.
THE DUEL OF THE PALFRIES.
THE MAD SQUIRE AND HIS FATAL HUNTING.
THE OX TURNED BUTCHER.
GALLANTRY—A LA MODE—OR THE LOVERS CATCHED BY THE BIRD.
THE HONEST ASS AND MILLER.
THE HORSE TURNED GROOM.
THE WATER WONDER, OR FISHES LORDS OF THE CREATION.
SUN, MOON, STARS AND EARTH TRANSPOSED.
