While Sickness, and her sisters Pain
And Poverty, the centre gain:
Repentance, with a brow severe,
And Death were station'd in the rear.
Health ranged her troops with matchless art, And acted the defensive part :
Her army posted on a hill
Plainly bespoke superior skill.
Hence were discover'd through the plain
The motions of the hostile train:
While Prudence, to prevent surprise,
Oft sallied with her trusty spies;
Explored each ambuscade below,
And reconnoitred well the foe.
Afar when Luxury descried
Inferior force by art supplied,
The siren spake—' Let fraud prevail,
Since all my numerous hosts must fail;
Henceforth hostilities shall cease,
I'll send to Health and offer peace.'
Straight she despatch'd, with powers complete,
Pleasure, her minister, to treat.
This wicked strumpet topp'd her part,
And sow'd sedition in the heart!
Through every troop the poison ran,
All were infected-to a man.
The wary generals were won
By Pleasure's wiles, and both undone.
Jove held the troops in high disgrace,
And bade diseases blast their race;
Look'd on the queen with melting eyes,
And snatch'd his darling to the skies:
Who still regards those wiser few
That dare her dictates to pursue.
For where her stricter law prevails, Though Passion prompts or Vice assails, Long shall the cloudless skies behold, And their calm sunset beam with gold.
MAN is deceived by outward show-
'Tis a plain homespun truth, I know,
The fraud prevails at every age,
So
says
the schoolboy and the sage :
Yet still we hug the dear deceit,
And still exclaim against the cheat.
But whence this inconsistent part?
Say, moralists, who know the heart.
If you'll this labyrinth pursue,
go before and find the clue.
I dream'd ('twas on a birthday night) A sumptuous palace rose to sight; The builder had through every part Observed the chastest rules of art; Raphael and Titian had display'd All the full force of light and shade: Around the liveried servants wait; An aged porter kept the gatè.
As I was traversing the hall,
Where Brussels' looms adorn'd the wall (Whose tapestry shows, without my aid, A nun is no such useless maid), A graceful person came in view (His form, it seems, is known to few);
His dress was unadorn'd with lace,
But charms! a thousand in his face.
This, sir, your property? (I cried)Master and mansion coincide:
Where all, indeed, is truly great,
And proves that bliss may dwell with state;
Pray, sir, indulge a stranger's claim,
And grant the favour of your name.'
Content! (the lovely form replied)
But think not here that I reside:
Here lives a courtier, base and sly;
honest rustic I,
Our taste and manners disagree,
His levee boasts no charms for me:
For titles and the smiles of kings
To me are cheap unheeded things.
(Tis virtue can alone impart
The patent of a ducal heart:
Unless this herald speaks him great,
What shall avail the glare of state?)
Those secret charms are my delight,
Which shine remote from public sight:
Passions subdued, desires at rest-
And hence his chaplain shares my breast.
‹ There was a time (his grace can tell)
I knew the duke exceeding well;
Knew every secret of his heart;
In truth we never were apart:
But when the court became his end,
He turn'd his back upon his friend.
One day I call'd upon his grace,
Just as the duke had got a place :
I thought (but thought amiss, 'tis clear)
I should be welcome to the peer,
Yes, welcome to a man in power;
And so I was-for half an hour.
But he grew weary of his guest,
And soon discarded me his breast;
Upbraided me with want of merit,
But most for poverty of spirit.
'You relish not the great man's lot?
Come, hasten to my humbler cot.
Think me not partial to the great,
I'm a sworn foe to pride and state;
No monarchs share my kind embrace,
There's scarce a monarch knows my face:
Content shuns courts, and oftener dwells
With modest worth in rural cells;
There's no complaint, though brown the bread,
Or the rude turf sustain the head;
Though hard the couch, and coarse the meat,
Still the brown loaf and sleep are sweet,
Far from the city I reside,
And a thatch'd cottage all my pride.
True to my heart, I seldom roam,
Because I find my joys at home:
For foreign visits then begin,
When the man feels a void within.
But though from towns and crowds I fly,
No humourist or cynic I.
Amidst sequester'd shades I prize
The friendships of the good and wise.
Bid Virtue and her sons attend,
Virtue will tell thee I'm her friend:
Tell thee, I'm faithful, constant, kind,
And meek and lowly and resign'd;
Will say, there's no distinction known
Betwixt her household and my own,'
Author. If these the friendships you pursue, Your friends, I fear, are very few.
So little company, you say,
Yet fond of home from day to day?
How do you shun detraction's rod?
I doubt your neighbours think you odd!
Content. I commune with myself at night,
And ask my heart if all be right:
If'right' replies my faithful breast,
I smile, and close my eyes to rest.
Author. You seem regardless of the town:
Pray, sir, how stand you with the gown?
Content, The clergy say they love me well,
Whether they do, they best can tell :
They paint me modest, friendly, wise,
And always praise me to the skies;
But if conviction's at the heart,
Why not a correspondent part?
For shall the learned tongue prevail,
If actions preach a different tale?
Who'll seek my door or grace my walls,
When neither dean nor prelate calls?
With those my friendships most obtain,
Who prize their duty more than gain;
Soft flow the hours whene'er we meet,
And conscious virtue is our treat;
Our harmless breasts no envy know,
And hence we fear no secret foe;
Our walks Ambition ne'er attends,
And hence we ask no powerful friends;
We wish the best to church and state,
But leave the steerage to the great;
Careless who rises or who falls,
And never dream of vacant stalls ;
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