JOSEPH ADDISON. Who all night long unwearied sing All praise to Thee, who safe hast kept, I may of endless light partake. Lord, I my vows to thee renew; Disperse my sins as morning dew; Guard my first springs of thought and will, And with thyself my spirit fill. Direct, control, suggest, this day, Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Yet then from all my griefs, O Lord, 47 For, though in dreadful whirls we hung, I knew thou wert not slow to hear, The storm was laid, the winds retired The sea, that roared at thy command, In midst of dangers, fears, and death, My life, if thou preserv'st my life, JOSEPH ADDISON. [1672-1719.] HYMN. How are thy servants blest, O Lord! Eternal Wisdom is their guide, In foreign realms and lands remote, And breathed in tainted air. Thy mercy sweetened every toil, Think, O my soul, devoutly think, Confusion dwelt in every face, And fear in every heart; PARAPHRASE OF PSALM, XXIII. THE Lord my pasture shall prepare, And feed me with a shepherd's care; His presence shall my wants supply, And guard me with a watchful eye; My noonday walks he shall attend, And all my midnight hours defend. When in the sultry glebe I faint, Though in the paths of death I tread, Though in a bare and rugged way, Through devious lonely wilds I stray, Thy bounty shall my wants beguile, The barren wilderness shall smile, When waves on waves, and gulfs on gulfs, With sudden greens and herbage crowned, O'ercame the pilot's art. And streams shall murmur all around. ALLAN RAMSAY. To trust in everything, or doubt of all. Who thus define it, say they more or less Than this, that happiness is happiness? Take nature's path, and mad opinion's leave; All states can reach it, and all heads conceive; Obvious her goods, in no extremes they dwell; There needs but thinking right and meaning well; And mourn our various portions as we please, Equal is common sense and common ease. Remember, man, "The Universal Cause Acts not by partial, but by general laws"; And makes what happiness we justly call Subsist not in the good of one, but all. There's not a blessing individuals find, But some way leans and hearkens to the kind; No bandit fierce, no tyrant mad with pride, No caverned hermit rests self-satisfied: Who most to shun or hate mankind pretend, Seek an admirer, or would fix a friend: Abstract what others feel, what others think, All pleasures sicken, and all glories sink: Each has his share; and who would more obtain Shall find the pleasure pays not half the 49 ALLAN RAMSAY. [1685-1758.] SONG. FAREWELL to Lochaber, farewell to my Jean, Where heartsome with thee I have mony a day been: To Lochaber no more, to Lochaber no more, We'll maybe return to Lochaber no more. These tears that I shed they are a' for my dear, And not for the dangers attending on weir; Though borne on rough seas to a far bloody shore, Maybe to return to Lochaber no more! LEST men suspect your tale untrue, The traveller, leaping o'er those bounds, They take the strongest praise on trust. So very like a painter drew, So just, the life itself was there. come, His pallet ready o'er his thumb. Then dipped his pencil, talked of Greece, You'll grant are very hard to hit ; Besides, my nose is somewhat long; "Oh! pardon me," the artist cried, "In this the painters must decide. The piece even common eyes must strike, I warrant it extremely like." My lord examined it anew; A lady came; with borrowed grace JOHN BYROM. JAMES THOMSON. 51 JOHN BYROM. [1691-1763.] CARELESS CONTENT. I AM content, I do not care, Wag as it will the world for me; When fuss and fret was all my fare, It got no ground as I could see: So when away my caring went, I counted cost, and was content. With more of thanks and less of thought, Physic and food in sour and sweet: With good and gentle-humored hearts, For chance or change of peace or pain, I never dodge nor up nor down; I suit not where I shall not speed, I make no bustling, but abide; Of ups and downs, of ins and outs, I shun the rancors and the routs; With whom I feast I do not fawn, Nor if the folks should flout me, faint; If wonted welcome be withdrawn, I cook no kind of a complaint: Not that I rate myself the rule How all my betters should behave; But fame shall find me no man's fool, Fond of a true and trusty tie, I talk thereon just as I think; If names or notions make a noise, And read or write, but without wrath; For should I burn, or break my brains, Pray, who will pay me for my pains? I love my neighbor as myself, Myself like him too, by his leave; Nor to his pleasure, power, or pelf Came I to crouch, as I conceive: Dame Nature doubtless has designed A man the monarch of his mind. |