Oft water fairest meadows, and the bird
That flutters least is longest on the wing".
Ask him indeed what trophies he has raised,
Or what achievements of immortal fame
He purposes, and he shall answer—none.
His warfare is within. There unfatigued
His fervent spirit labours. There he fights,
And there obtains fresh triumphs o'er himself,

And never-withering wreaths, compared with which
The laurels that a Cæsar reaps are weeds 28.
Perhaps the self-approving haughty world,
(That as she sweeps him with her whistling silks
Scarce deigns to notice him, or if she see
Deems him a cypher in the works of God,)
Receives advantage from his noiseless hours
Of which she little dreams. Perhaps she owes
Her sunshine and her rain, her blooming spring
And plenteous harvest, to the prayer he makes,
When Isaac like, the solitary saint
Walks forth to meditate at eventide,
And think on her, who thinks not for herself.
Forgive him then, thou bustler in concerns
Of little worth, and idler in the best,

930

935

940

9.45

950

But we might reflect

stir and noise with which they are attended! that the most perfect and beneficial agency is exerted without precipitation or tumult; that all the planetary revolutions are performed in majestic order and silence, and with less impression upon the senses than the motions of a water mill.-Rural Philosophy, by Ely Bates.

27

Like virtue, thriving most where little seen.

Strongest minds

Are often those of whom the noisy world

Hears least.

Book iii. 664.

Excursion, p. 7.

28 He deserves the name of a great and good man, who serves God, and is a friend to mankind, and receives the most ungrateful returns from the world, and endures them with a calm and composed mind; who dares look scorn and death and infamy in the face, who can stand forth unmoved and patiently bear to be derided as a fool and an idiot, to be pointed out as a madman and an enthusiast, to be reviled, &c. He who can pass through these trials is a conqueror indeed, and what the world calls courage scarcely deserves that name when compared to this behaviour.

Jortin's Discourses, ii. p. 125.

If author of no mischief and some good,
He seek his proper happiness by means
That may advance, but cannot hinder thine.
Nor though he tread the secret path of life
Engage no notice, and enjoy much ease,
Account him an incumbrance on the state,
Receiving benefits, and rendering none.

955

His sphere though humble, if that humble sphere

960

Shine with his fair example, and though small
His influence, if that influence all be spent
In soothing sorrow and in quenching strife,
In aiding helpless indigence, in works
From which at least a grateful few derive
Some taste of comfort in a world of woe,
Then let the supercilious great confess
He serves his country; recompenses well
The state beneath the shadow of whose vine

965

He sits secure, and in the scale of life

970

Holds no ignoble, though a slighted place.

The man whose virtues are more felt than seen,
Must drop indeed the hope of public praise;
But he may boast what few that win it can,
That if his country stand not by his skill,

975

At least his follies have not wrought her fall.
Polite refinement offers him in vain

And be not costly more than of true worth,
He puts it on, and for decorum sake

985

Can wear it even as gracefully as she3.

29 Though wrong the mode, comply; more sense is shown In wearing others' follies than your own.

Young. Satire iv.

30 Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

Pope. Essay on Crit. ii. 338.

She judges of refinement by the eye,
He by the test of conscience, and a heart
Not soon deceived; aware that what is base
No polish can make sterling, and that vice
Though well perfumed and elegantly dress'd,
Like an unburied carcase trick'd with flowers,
Is but a garnish'd nuisance, fitter far
For cleanly riddance than for fair attire.
So life glides smoothly and by stealth away,
More golden than that age of fabled gold
Renown'd in ancient song; not vex'd with care
Or stained with guilt, beneficent, approved
Of God and man, and peaceful in its end.
So glide my life away! and so at last
My share of duties decently fulfilled
May some disease, not tardy to perform
Its destined office, yet with gentle stroke,
Dismiss me weary to a safe retreat

990

995

1000

Beneath the turf that I have often trod.

1005

It shall not grieve me, then, that once when called
To dress a Sofa with the flowers of verse,

I play'd awhile, obedient to the fair,

With that light task; but soon to please her more
Whom flowers alone I knew would little please,
Let fall the unfinish'd wreath, and roved for fruit.
Roved far and gather'd much. Some harsh, 'tis true,
Pick'd from the thorns and briers of reproof,
But wholesome, well-digested. Grateful some
To palates that can taste immortal truth,
Insipid else, and sure to be despised.

31 And may at last my weary age
Find out the peaceful hermitage.

Penseroso.

Thus sheltered, free from care and strife
May I enjoy a calm through life,
Unhurt by sickness' blasting rage,
And slowly mellowing in age

When fate extends its gathering gripe.
Quit a worn being without pain,

1010

1015

Perhaps to blossom soon again.

Spleen.

Beg to lay it down,

Glad to be so dismissed in peace. Par. Lost, ii. 506.

But all is in His hand whose praise I seek.
In vain the poet sings, and the world hears,
If he regard not, though divine the theme.
'Tis not in artful measures, in the chime
And idle tinkling of a minstrel's lyre

To charm His ear, whose eye is on the heart,
Whose frown can disappoint the proudest strain,
Whose approbation-prosper even mine.

1020

INDEX TO THE TASK.

"ACQUAINT thyself with God," Beauty and old age, iii. 601.

Address to domestic happiness, iii. Billiards, iv. 221; vi. 274.