[
  {
    "title": "On Silence.",
    "author": "Alexander Pope",
    "lines": [
      "IMMITATION OF ENGLISH POETS. EARL OF ROCHESTER",
      "",
      "   Silence! coeval with eternity;",
      "   Thou wert, ere Nature's self began to be,",
      "'Twas one vast Nothing all, and all slept fast in thee.",
      "",
      "   Thine was the sway, ere heaven was form'd, or earth,",
      "   Ere fruitful Thought conceived Creation's birth,",
      "Or midwife Word gave aid, and spoke the infant forth.",
      "",
      "   Then various elements against thee join'd,",
      "   In one more various animal combined,",
      "And framed the clamorous race of busy humankind.",
      "",
      "   The tongue moved gently first, and speech was low,",
      "   Till wrangling Science taught it noise and show,",
      "And wicked Wit arose, thy most abusive foe.",
      "",
      "   But rebel Wit deserts thee oft in vain;",
      "   Lost in the maze of words he turns again,",
      "And seeks a surer state, and courts thy gentle reign.",
      "",
      "   Afflicted Sense thou kindly dost set free,",
      "   Oppress'd with argumental tyranny,",
      "And routed Reason finds a safe retreat in thee.",
      "",
      "   With thee in private modest Dulness lies,",
      "   And in thy bosom lurks in Thought's disguise;",
      "Thou varnisher of fools, and cheat of all the wise!",
      "",
      "   Yet thy indulgence is by both confess'd;",
      "   Folly by thee lies sleeping in the breast,",
      "And 'tis in thee at last that Wisdom seeks for rest.",
      "",
      "   Silence! the knave's repute, the whore's good name,",
      "   The only honour of the wishing dame;",
      "Thy very want of tongue makes thee a kind of fame.",
      "",
      "   But couldst thou seize some tongues that now are free,",
      "   How Church and State should be obliged to thee!",
      "At Senate, and at Bar, how welcome would'st thou be!",
      "",
      "   Yet Speech even there submissively withdraws",
      "   From rights of subjects, and the poor man's cause:",
      "Then pompous Silence reigns, and stills the noisy laws.",
      "",
      "   Past services of friends, good deeds of foes,",
      "   What favourites gain, and what the nation owes,",
      "Fly the forgetful world, and in thy arms repose.",
      "",
      "   The country wit, religion of the town,",
      "   The courtier's learning, policy o' the gown,",
      "Are best by thee express'd, and shine in thee alone.",
      "",
      "   The parson's cant, the lawyer's sophistry,",
      "   Lord's quibble, critic's jest, all end in thee,",
      "All rest in peace at last, and sleep eternally."
    ],
    "linecount": "43"
  }
]