Written at
Cambridge
between 22 February and 1
March 1747
and sent in a letter of that date to
Horace
Walpole
. Mason is the only source for this
letter, the poem sent in it has
not survived. First published in
Dodsley's
Collection of
Poems by Several Hands, 3 vols, vol. II. (London, 1748), 267-269,
reprinted in 6 vols, vol. II. (London, 1758
and later edns.),
328-330.