1 Since then, with few associates, in remote Defend me therefore, common sense, say I, And growing old in drawing nothing up! “ 'T were well,” says one sage erudite, profound, With other views of men and manners now Terribly arch'd, and aquiline his nose, Than once, and others of a life to come. And overbuilt with most impending brows, I see that all are wand'rers, gone astray • 'T'were well, could you permit the World to live Each in his own delusion; they are lost As the World pleases: what's the World to you ?" In chase of fancied happiness, still woo'd Much. I was born of woman, and drew milk And never won. Dream after dream ensues; As sweet as charity from human breasts. And still they dream, that they shall still succeed, I think, articulate, I laugh and weep, And still are disappointed. Rings the world And exercise all functions of a man. With the vain stir. I sum up half mankind, How then should I and any man that lives And add two-thirds of the remaining half, Be strangers to each other ? Pierce my vein, And find the total of their hopes and fears Take of the crimson stream meand'ring there, Dreams, empty dreams. The million flit as gay, And catechize it well : apply thy glass, As if created only like the fly, Search it, and prove now if it be not blood That spreads his motley wings in th' eye of noon, Congenial with thine own; and, if it be, To sport their season, and be seen no more. What edge of subtlety canst thou suppose The rest are sober dreamers, grave and wise, Keen enough, wise and skilful as thou art, And pregnant with discov'ries new and rare. To cut the link of brotherhood, by which Some write a narrative of wars, and feats One common Maker bound me to the kind ? Of heroes little known; and call the rant True, I am no proficient, I confess, A history: describe the man, of whom In arts like yours. I cannot call the swift His own coëvals took but little note, And perilous lightnings from the angry clouds, And paint his person, character, and views, And bid them hide themselves in earth beneath ; As they had known him from his mother's womb. I cannot analyze the air, nor catch They disentangle from the puzzled skein, The parallax of yonder lum'nous point, In which obscurity has wrapp'd them up, That seems half-quench'd in the immense abyss : The threads of politic and shrewd design, Such pow'rs I boast not-neither can I rest A silent witness of the headlong rage, God never meant, that man should scale the Extract a register, by which we learn, Heav'ns Though wondrous: he commands us in his word Some, more acute, and more industrious still, To seek him rather, where his mercy shines. Contrive creation; travel nature up The mind, indeed, enlighten'd from above, Discover him, that rules them; such a veil Our wayward intellect, the more we learn From instrumental causes proud to draw But if his word once teach us, shoot a ray They should go out in fume, and be forgot! Through all the heart's dark chambers, and reveal Ah! what is life thus spent ? and what are they Truths undiscern'd but by that holy light, But frantic, who thus spend it? all for smoke Then all is plain. Philosophy, baptiz'd Eternity for bubbles proves at last In the pure fountain of eternal love, A senseless bargain. When I see such games Has eyes indeed ; and viewing all she sees Play'd by the creatures of a Pow'r who swears As meant to indicate a God to man, That he will judge the Earth, and call the fool Gives him his praise, and forfeits not her own. To a sharp reck’ning, that has liv'd in vain ; Learning has borne such fruit in other days And when I weigh this seeming wisdom well, On all her branches : piety has found And prove it in the infallible result Friends in the friends of science, and true pray'r So hollow and so false_I feel my heart Has flow'd from lips wet with Castalian dews. Dissolve in pity, and account the learn'd, Such was thy wisdom, Newton, childlike sage! If this be learning, most of all deceiv'd. Sagacions reader of the works of God, Great crimes alarm the conscience, but it sleeps, And in his word sagacious. Such too thine, While thoughtful man is plausibly amus’d. Milton, whose genius had angelic wings, And fed on manna! And such thine, in whom And clamors of the field -Detested sport Our British Themis gloried with just cause, That owes its pleasures to another's pain; Immortal Hale! for deep discernment prais'd, "That feeds upon the sobs and dying shrieks And sound integrity, not more than fam'd of harmless nature, dumb but yet endued For sanctity of manners undefil'd. With eloquence, that agonies inspire, All Aesh is grass, and all its glory fades Of silent tears and heart-distending sigtas! Like the fair flow'r disheveld in the wind; Vain tears, alas! and sighs that never find Riches have wings, and grandeur is a dream. A corresponding tone in jovial souls ! The man we celebrate must find a tomb, Well—one at least is safe. One shelter'd hare And we that worship him ignoble graves. Has never heard the sanguinary yell Nothing is proof against the gen'ral curse Of cruel man, exulting in her woes. Of vanity, that seizes all below. Innocent partner of my peaceful home The only amaranthine flow'r on Earth Whom ten long years' experience of my care Is virtue; th' only lasting treasure, truth. Has made at last familiar; she has lost But what is truth? "Twas Pilate's question put Much of her vigilant instinctive dread, To Truth itself, that deign'd him no reply. Not needful here, beneath a roof like mine And wherefore? will not God impart his light Yes thou may'st eat thy bread, and lick the band To them that ask it I-Freely—'tis his joy, That feeds thee; thou may'st frolic on the beat His glory, and his nature to impart. At ev'ning, and at night retire secure But to the proud, uncandid, insincere, To thy straw couch, and slumber unalarnd: Or negligent inquirer, not a spark. For I have gain'd thy confidence, hare pledd What's that, which brings contempt upon a book, All that is human in me, to protect And him who writes it, though the style be neat, Thine unsuspecting gratitude and love. The method clear, and argument exact ? If I survive thee, I will dig thy grave; That makes a minister in holy things And, when I place thee in it, sighing say, The joy of many, and the dread of more ; I knew at least one hare that had a friend. His name a theme for praise and for reproach ? How various his employments, whom the world That, while it gives us worth in God's account, Calls idle; and who justly in return Depreciates and undoes us in our own? Esteems that busy world an idler too! What pearl is it, that rich men cannot buy, Friends, books, a garden, and perhaps his pen, That learning is too proud to gather up; Delightful industry enjoy'd at home, But which the poor, and the despis'd of all, And Nature in her cultivated trim Seek and obtain, and often find unsought ? Dress'd to his taste, inviting him abroadTell me—and I will tell thee what is truth. Can he want occupation, who has these O friendly to the best pursuits of man, Will he be idle, who has much l' enjoy ? Friendly to thought, to virtue, and to peace, Me therefore studious of laborious ease, Domestic life in rural pleasure past! Not slothful, happy to deceive the time, Few know thy value, and few taste thy sweets ; Not waste it, and aware that human life Though many boast thy favors, and affect Is but a loan to be repaid with use, To understand and choose thee for their own. When He shall call his debtors to account, But foolish man foregoes his proper bliss, From whom are all our blessings, business finds Ev'n as his first progenitor, and quits, Ev'n here! while sedulous I seek t' improve, Though plac'd in Paradise, (for Earth has still At least neglect not, or leave unemploy'd Some traces of her youthful beauty left,) The mind he gave me; driving it, though deci Substantial happiness for transient joy. Too oft, and much impeded in its work Scenes form'd for contemplation, and to nurse By causes not to be divulg'd in vain. The growing seeds of wisdom; that suggest, To its just point-the service of mankind. By ev'ry pleasing image they present, He, that attends to his interior self, Reflections such as meliorate the heart, That has a heart, and keeps it; has a mind Compose the passions, and exalt the mind; That hungers, and supplies it; and who seed Scenes such as these, 'tis his supreme delight A social, not a dissipated life, To fill with riot, and defile with blood. Has business ; feels himself engag'd t'achiere Should some contagion, kind to the poor brutes No unimportant, though a silent, task. We persecute, annihilate the tribes, A life all turbulence and noise may seem, That draw the sportsman over hill and dale To him that leads it, wise, and to be prais d; Fearless and rapt away from all his cares; But wisdom is a pearl with most success Should never game-fowl hatch her eggs again, Sought in still water, and beneath clear skies Nor baited hook deceive the fish's eye; He that is ever occupied in storras, Or dives not for i The morning finds the self-sequester'd man Well chosen, and not sullenly perus'd Cultur'd and capable of sober thought, In selfish silence, but imparted oft, For all the savage din of the swift pack, | As aught occurs, that she may smile to bear, Or turn to nourishment, digested well. For, ere the beech and elm have cast their leaf **Or if the garden with its many cares, Deciduous, when now November dark Checks vegetation in the torpid plant Warily therefore, and with prudent heed, DA Oft loit'ring lazily, if not o'erseen, He seeks a favor'd spot; that where he builds 21. Or misapplying his unskilful strength. Th' agglomerated pile, his frame may front 12 . Nor does he govern only or direct, The Sun's meridian disk, and at the back Impervious to the wind. First be bids spread Dry fern or litter'd hay, that may imbibe 13 de Not tire, demanding rather skill than force. Th' ascending damps; then leisurely impose, pe Proud of his well-spread walls, he views his trees, And lightly, shaking it with agile hand ISZT: That meet, no barren interval between, From the full fork, the saturated straw. Shelt'ring the base with its projected eaves ; ce None but his steel approach them. What is weak, Th' uplified frame, compact at ev'ry joint, Distemper'd, or has lost prolific pow'rs, And overlaid with clear translucent glass, vibe ve Impair'd by age, his unrelenting hand He settles next upon the sloping mount, |From the dash'd pane the deluge as it falls. Thrice must the voluble and restless Earth * With hopeful gems. The rest, no portion left Spin round upon her axle, ere the warmth, **** That may disgrace his art, or disappoint Slow gath'ring in the midst, through the square mass Diffus’d, attain the surface: when, behold! A pestilent and most corrosive steam, Like a gross fog Baotian, rising fast, **" And ventilate and warm the swelling buds. And fast condens'd upon the dewy sash, Hence Summer has her riches, Autumn hence, Asks egress ; which obtain'd, the overcharg'd 3 And hence ev'n Winter fills his wither'd hand And drench'd conservatory breathes abroad, - With blushing fruits, and plenty not his own. In volumes wheeling slow, the vapor dank; 22 T1 Fair recompense of labor well-bestow'd, And, purified, rejoices to have lost 3 And wise precaution; which a clime so rude Its foul inhabitant. But to assuage 3D Makes needful still, whose Spring is but the child Thi impatient fervor, which it first conceives ? Of courlish Winter, in her frouard moods Within its reeking bosom, threat'ning death ? > Discov'ring much the temper of her sire. To his young hopes, requires discreet delay. ry For oft, as if in her the stream of mild Experience, slow preceptress, teaching oft Maternal nature had revers d its course, The way to glory by miscarriage foul, * She brings her infants forth with many smiles; Must prompt him, and admonish how to catch * But, once deliver'd, kills them with a frown. Th' auspicious moment, when the temper'd heat, -2133 He therefore, timely warn'd himself, supplies Friendly to vital motion, may afford Her want of care, screening and keeping warm Soft fomentation, and invite the seed. f The plenteous bloom, that no rough blast may sweep The seed, selected wisely, plump, and smooth, - His garlands from the boughs. Again, as oft And glossy, he commits to pots of size vil As the sun peeps and vernal airs breathe mild, Diminutive, well fill'd with well-prepard E The fence withdrawn, he gives them ev'ry beam, And fruitful soil, that has been treasur'd long, And spreads his hopes before the blaze of day. And drank no moisture from the dripping clouds. To raise the prickly and green-coated gourd, These on the warm and genial earth, that hides So grateful to the palate, and when rare The smoking manure, and o'erspreads it all, He places lightly, and, as time subdues The rage of fermentation, plunges deep In the soft medium, till they stand immers'd. Then rise the tender germs, upstarting quick Two leaves produc'd, two rough indented leaves, Cautious he pinches from the second stalk Th' ambition of one meaner far, whose pow'rs A pimple, that portends a future sprout, Presuming an attempt not less sublime, And interdicts its growth. Thence straight succeed Pant for the praise of dressing to the taste The branches, sturdy to his utmost wish; Prolific all, and harbingers of more. The crowded roots demand enlargement now, And transplantation in an ampler space. Indulg'd in what they wish, they soon supply Large foliage, overshadowing golden fow’rs, Blown on the summit of th' apparent fruit. Of their complete effect. Much yet rentains And more laborious; cares on which depends From fow'r to flow'r, and ev'n the breathing air Their vigor, injur'd soon, not soon restord. Wafts the rich prize to its appointed use. The soil must be renew'd, which often wasta Not so when Winter scowls. Assistant Art Loses its treasure of salubrious salts. Then acts in Nature's office, brings to pass And disappoints the roots ; ibe slender roots The glad espousals, and insures the crop. Close interwoven, where they meet the Fase Grudge not, ye rich, (since Luxury must have Must smooth be shorn away; the sapless brood His dainties, and the world's more num'rous half Must fly before the knife; the wither'd leaf Lives by contriving delicates for you,) Must be detach'd, and where it strews the four Grudge not the cost. Ye little know the cares, Swept with a woman's neatness, breeding else The vigilance, the labor, and the skill Contagion, and disseminating death. Would spare, that loves them, offices like these That ye may garnish your profuse regales Well they reward the toil. The sigbt is pies, With summer fruits brought forth by wint'ry suns. The scent regal'd; each odorif rous leaf. Ten thousand dangers lie in wait to thwart Each op'ning blossom, freely breathes abroad The process. Heat and cold, and wind and steam, Its gratitude, and thanks him with its sweets Moisture and drought, mice, worms, and swarming So manifold, all pleasing in their kind. flies, All healthful, are th' employs of rural life, Minute as dust, and numberless, oft work Reiterated as the wheel of time Dire disappointment, that admits no cure, Runs round; still ending, and beginning til And which no care can obviate. It were long, Nor are these all. To deck the shapely kml. Too long, to tell th' expedients and the shifts, That softly swell’d and gaily dress d appears Which he that fights a season so severe A flow'ry island, from the dark-green law Devises, while he guards his tender trust; Emerging, must be deem'd a labor due And oft at last in vain. The learn'd and wise To no mean hand, and asks the touch of txe. Sarcastic would exclaim, and judge the song Here also grateful mixture of well-match'd Cold as its theme, and like its theme the fruit And sorted hues (each giving each relief, Of too much labor, worthless when produc'd. And by contrasted beauty sbining more) Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too. Is needful. Strength may wield the possa Unconscious of a less propitious clime, spade, There blooms exotic beauty, warm and snug, May turn the clod, and wheel the comsest bone; While the winds whistle, and the snows descend. But elegance, chief grace the garden shows The spiry myrtle with unwith’ring leaf And most attractive, is the fair result Shines there, and flourishes. The golden boast Of thought, the creature of a polish'd mind. Of Portugal and western India there. Without it, all is Gothic as the scene The ruddier orange, and the paler lime, To which th' insipid citizen resorts Peep through their polish'd foliage at the storm, Near yonder heath; where Industry misspent. And seem to smile at what they need not fear. | But proud of his uncouth ill-chosen tasks Th' amomum there with intermingling flow'rs Has made a Heaven on Earth ; with suns an Do And cherries hangs her twigs. Geranium boasts Of close-ramm'd stones has charg'd th' eocupei Her crimson honors; and the spangled beau, soil, Ficoides, glitters bright the winter long. And fairly laid the zodiac in the dnst. All plants, of ev'ry leaf, that can endure He, therefore, who would see his flow'r dai The winter's frown, if screen'd from his shrewd bite, Sightly and in just order, ere he gives Live there, and prosper. Those Ausonia claims, The beds the trusted treasure of their seeds Levantine regions these ; th' Azores send Forecasts the future whole ; that when the ce Their jessamine: her jessamine remote Shall break into its preconceiv'd display, Caffraria : foreigners from many lands, Each for itself, and all as with one voice Nor even then, dismissing as perforin'd Few self-supported flow'rs endure the wind Uninjur'd, but expect th' upholding aid Must lend its aid t'illustrate all their charms, Of the smooth-shaven prop, and neatly tied. And dress the regular yet various scene. Are wedded thus, like beauty to old age, Plant behind plant aspiring, in the van For int'rest sake, the living to the dead. The dwarfish, in the rear retir'd, but still Some clothe the soil that feeds them, far ditud Sublime above the rest, the statelier stand. And lowly creeping, modest and yet fair. So once were rang'd the sons of ancient Rome, Like Virtue, thriving most where litte seen: A noble show! while Roscius trod the stage; Some more aspiring catch the neighbor shrub And so, while Garrick, as renown'd as he, With clasping tendrils, and invest his branch, The sons of Albion ; fearing each to lose Else unadorn'd, with many a gay festoon Some note of Nature's music from his lips, Ar 'trant chaplet, recompensing weil And covetous of Shakspeare's beauty, seen The s... th they borrow with the grace they lead In ev'ry flash of his far-beaming eye. All hate ine rank society of weeds. Nor taste alone and well-contriv'd display Noisome, and ever greedy to exhaust Suffice to give the marshal'd ranks the grace | Th' impoy'rish'd earth; an overbearing roce, That, like the multitude made faction-mad, What England was, plain, hospitable, kind, To all the virtues of those better days, And all their honest pleasures. Mansions once Knew their own masters; and laborious hinds, Who had surviv'd the father, serv'd the son. Is but a transient guest, newly arriv'd, As soon to be supplanted. He, that saw His patrimonial timber cast its leaf, 2t Abroad, and desolating public life. Sells the last scantling, and transfers the price 2 When fierce Temptation, seconded within To some shrewd sharper, ere it buds again. Estates are landscapes, gaz'd upon awhile, The country starves, and they, that feed th'o'ercharg'd And surfeited lewd town with her fair dues, By a just judgment strip and starve themselves. The wings, that waft our riches out of sight, That never tire, soon fans them all away. Improvement, too, the idol of the age, Is fed with many a victim. Lo, he comes ! Th' omnipotent magician, Brown, appears! Down falls the venerable pile, th' abode But tasteless. Springs a palace in its stead, And what they will not taste must yet approve. It may enjoy th' advantage of the north, !? What we admire, we praise; and, when we praise, And aguish east, till time shall have transform'd 1 Advance it into notice, that, its worth Those naked acres to a shelt'ring grove. learn Acknowledg'd, others may admire it too. He speaks. The lake in front becomes a lawn; mahesap ( therefore recommend, though at the risk Woods vanish, hills subside, and valleys rise; of popular disgust, yet boldly still, And streams, as if created for his use, 1. The cause of piety, and sacred truth, Pursue the track of his directing wand, 2 And virtue, and those scenes, which God ordain'd Sinuous or straight, now rapid and now slow, Should best secure them, and promote them most; Now murm'ring soft, now roaring in cascades— # Scenes that I love, and with regret perceive Ev'n as he bids! Th' enraptur'd owner smiles. Forsaken, or through folly not enjoy'd. 'Tis finish'd, and yet, finish'd as it seems, das Pure is the nymph, though lib'ral of her smiles, Still wants a grace, the loveliest it could show, ist And chaste, though unconfin'd, whom I extol. | A mine to satisfy th' enormous cost. Not as the prince in Shushan, when he callid, Drain'd to the last poor item of his wealth, Vain-glorious of her charms, his Vashti forth, He sighs, departs, and leaves th' accomplish'd plan, - I To grace the full pavilion. His design That he has touch'd, retouch'd, many a long day Was but to boast his own peculiar good, Labor'd, and many a night pursu'd in dreams, He wanted, for a wealthier to enjoy ; And now perhaps the glorious hour is come, When, having no stake lest, no pledge t'endear Her int'rests, or that gives her sacred cause He burns with most intense and flagrant zeal, Deals him out money from the public chest; To be refunded duly, when his vote Well-manag'd shall have earn'd its worthy price. O innocent, compar'd with arts like these, One drop of Heaven's sweet mercy in his cup, So he may wrap himself in honest rags At his last gasp; but could not for a world From pools and ditches of the commonwealth, tror ber i |