Hath fhap'd his way; on beds profufe of flow'rs, Cowflip, or primrose, or the circ'lar eye Of daifie fair, decrees to bask supine. And fee! delighted, down he drops, fecure Of fweet refreshment, ease without annoy, Or luscious noon-day nap. Ah much deceiv'd, Much fuff'ring pilgrim! thou nor noon-day nap, Nor fweet repose shalt find; the false morass In quiv'ring undulations yields beneath Thy burden, in the miry gulph enclos'd! And who would truft appearance? cast thine eye Where 'mid machines of het'rogeneous form His coat depends; alas! his only coat, Eldeft of things! and napless, as an heath Of fmall extent by fleecy myriads graz'd. Not diff'rent have I feen in dreary vault Difplay'd, a coffin; on each fable fide The texture unmolested seems entire.
Fraudful, when touch'd it glides to dust away! And leaves the wond'ring fwain to gape, to ftare, And with expreffive fhrug, and piteous figh, Declare the fatal force of rolling years,
Or dire extent of frail mortality.
This aged vefture, fcorn of gazing beaux, And formal cits, (themselves too haply scorn'd) Both on its fleeve and on its skirt, retains Full many a pin wide-fparkling: for, if e'er Their well-known creft met his delighted eye, Tho' wrapt in thought, commercing with the sky,
He, gently stooping, fcorn'd not to upraise, And on each fleeve, as confcious of their ufe, Indenting fix them; nor, when arm'd with thefe, The cure of rents and feparations dire,
And chafms enormous, did he view dismay'd Hedge, bramble, thicket, bufh, portending fate To breeches, coat and hofe! had any wight Of vulgar skill, the tender texture own'd; gave his mind to form a fonnet quaint Of SILVIA'S fhoe-ftring, or of CLOE's fan, Or fweetly-fashion'd tip of CELIA's ear. Alas! by frequent ufe decays the force Of mortal art! the refractory robe Eludes the taylor's art, eludes his own; How potent once, in union quaint conjoin'd! See near his bed (his bed too falfely call'd The place of reft, while it a bard sustains ; Pale, meagre, mufe-rid wight! who reads in vain Narcotic volumes o'er) his candlestick, Radiant machine, when from the plastic hand Of MULCIBER, the may'r of BIRMINGHAM, The engine iffu'd; now alas difguis'd
By many an unctuous tide, that wand'ring down Its fides congeal; what he, perhaps, effays With humour forc'd, and ill-diffembled smile, Idly to liken to the poplar's trunk When o'er its bark the lucid amber, wound In many a pleasing fold, incrufts the tree. Or fuits him more the winter's candy'd thorn,
When from each branch, anneal'd, the works of frost Pervafive, radiant ificles depend?
How fhall I fing the various ill that waits The careful fonneteer? or who can paint The shifts enormous, that in vain he forms To patch his paneless window; to cement His batter'd tea pot, ill-retentive vase ? To war with ruin? anxious to conceal Want's fell appearance, of the real ill Nor foe, nor fearful. Ruin unforeseen Invades his chattles; ruin will invade; Will claim his whole invention to repair, Nor, of the gift, for tuneful ends defign'd, Allow one part to decorate his fong. While ridicule, with ever-pointing hand Conscious of ev'ry fhift, of ev'ry shift Indicative, his inmoft plot betrays,
Points to the nook, which he his study deems Pompous and vain! for thus he might esteem His cheft, a wardrobe; purfe, a treasury; And fhews, to crown her full display, himself. One whom the powr's above, in place of health, And wonted vigour; of paternal cot,
Or little farm; of bag, or fcrip, or staff, Cup, dish, spoon, plate, or worldly utenfil, A poet fram'd; yet fram'd not to repine, And with the cobler's loftieft fite his own; Nor, partial as they feem, upbraid the fates, Who to the humbler mechanifm, join'd
Goods fo fuperior, fuch exalted blifs!
See with what seeming ease, what labour'd He, hapless hypocrite! refines his nail,
His chief amusement! then how feign'd, how forc'd, That care-defying fonnet, which implies
His debts discharg'd, and he of half a crown In full poffeffion, uncontested right
And property! Yet ah! whoe'er this wight Admiring view, if fuch there be, distrust The vain pretence; the fmiles that harbour grief, As lurks the ferpent deep in flow'rs enwreath'd. Forewarn'd, be frugal; or with prudent rage Thy pen demolish; chufe the trustier flail, And bless those labours which the choice infpir❜d. But if thou view'st a vulgar mind, a wight Of common fenfe, who seeks no brighter name, Him envy, him admire, him, from thy breast, Prefcient of future dignities, falute
Sheriff, or may'r, in comfortable furs
Enwrapt, fecure: nor yet the laureat's crown In thought exclude him! He perchance shall rife To nobler heights than forefight can decree. When fir'd with wrath, for his intrigues difplay'd In many an idle fong, Saturnian JOVE Vow'd fure deftruction to the tuneful race; Appeas'd by fuppliant PHOEBUS, "Bards, he faid, Henceforth of plenty, wealth, and pomp debarr'd, But fed by frugal cares, might wear the bay Secure of thunder."-Low the Delian bow'd, Nor at th' invidious favour dar'd repine.
The EFFECTS of SUPERSTITION.
T length fair peace with olive crown'd regains
Her lawful throne, and to the facred haunts Of wood or fount the frighted mufe returns. Happy the bard, who, from his native hills, Soft-mufing on a fummer's eve, furveys His azure stream, with penfile woods enclos'd! Or o'er the glaffy furface, with his friend, Or faithful fair, thro' bord'ring willows green Wafts his small frigate. Fearless he of fhouts, Or taunts, the rhetoric of the wat❜ry crew That ape confufion from the realms they rule! Fearless of these; who fhares the gentler voice Of peace and mufic; birds of sweetest song Attune from native boughs their various lay, And chear the foreft; birds of brighter plume With bufy pinion fkim the glitt'ring wave, And tempt the fun; ambitious to display Their feveral merit, while the vocal flute, Or number'd verfe, by female voice endear'd, Crowns his delight, and mollifies the scene.
If folitude his wand'ring steps invite
To fome more deep recefs, (for hours there are, When gay, when focial minds to friendship's voice, Or beauty's charm, her wild abodes prefer) How pleas'd he treads her venerable fhades,
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