Being asked once his opinion of the poetry of _Pye_, the then Poet
Laureat, his reply was, that he thought very _handsomely_ of some of
Mr. P.'s poems, which he had read. This did not suffice, and he was
pressed for his opinion of the Laureat-Ode that had just appeared in
the public prints. Not having seen it, he desired his friend to read
it to him, and the introductory lines containing something about the
_singing of birds_, Wakefield abruptly silenced him with this happy
allusion to the Laureat's name, in the following nursery rhymes:--
"And when the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing:
And was not this a dainty dish
To set before a king."
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