Dear critic, who my lightness so deplores,
Would I might study to be prince of bores,
Right wisely would I rule that dull estate—
But, sir, I may not, till you abdicate.
The point of the poem is an insult. It is a formal insult because of the author’s use of diction. By saying sir, it seems like he may have respect for the critic, but reading between the lines, he is actually insulting him.
To A Captious Critic