We journey'd with the plodding crew,
When soon a temple rose to view :
A gothic pile, with moss o'ergrown ;
Strong were the walls, and built with stone.
Without a thousand mastiffs wait:
A thousand bolts secure the gate.
We sought admission long in vain;
For here all favours sell for gain:
The greedy porter yields to gold,
His fee received, the gates unfold.
Assembled nations here we found,
And view'd the cringing herds around,
Who daily sacrificed to wealth
Their honour, conscience, peace, and health.
I saw no charms that could engage ;
The god appear'd like sordid age,
With hooked nose and famish'd jaws,
But serpent's eyes and harpy's claws:
Behind stood Fear, that restless sprite
Which haunts the watches of the night;
And viper Care, that stings so deep,
Whose deadly venom murders sleep.
We hasten now to Pleasure's bowers;
Where the gay tribes sat crown'd with flowers:
Here Beauty every charm display'd,
And Love inflamed the yielding maid:
Delicious wine our taste employs,
His crimson bowl exalts our joys:
I felt its generous power, and thought
The pearl was found that long I sought.
Determined here to fix my home,
I bless'd the change, nor wish'd to roam:
The seraph disapproved my stay,
Spread her fair plumes and wing'd away.
Alas! whene'er we talk of bliss,
How prone is man to judge amiss!
See, a long train of ills conspires
To scourge our uncontrol'd desires.
Like summer swarms diseases crowd,
Each bears a crutch, or each a shroud:
Fever! that thirsty fury, came,
With inextinguishable flame;
Consumption, sworn ally of Death!
Crept slowly on with panting breath;
Gout roar'd, and show'd his throbbing feet;
And Dropsy took the drunkard's seat;
Stone brought his torturing racks; and near
Sat Palsy shaking in her chair!
A mangled youth beneath a shade
A melancholy scene display'd:
His noseless face and loathsome stains
Proclaim'd the poison in his veins ;
He raised his eyes, he smote his breast,
He wept aloud, and thus address'd-
Forbear the harlot's false embrace,
Though Lewdness wear an angel's face,
Be wise, by my experience taught;
I die, alas! for want of thought.'
As he, who travels Libya's plains,
Where the fierce lion lawless reigns,
Is seized with fear and wild dismay,
When the grim foe obstructs his way:
My soul was pierced with equal fright,
My tottering limbs opposed my flight;
I call'd on Virtue, but in vain,
Her absence quicken'd every pain:
At length the slighted angel heard,
The dear refulgent form appear'd.
Presumptuous youth!' she said, and frown'd
(My heartstrings flutter'd at the sound);
'Who turns to me reluctant ears
Shall shed repeated floods of tears.
These rivers shall for ever last,
There's no retracting what is pass'd:
Nor think avenging ills to shun;
Play a false card, and you're undone.
'Of Pleasure's gilded baits beware,
Nor tempt the siren's fatal sṇare:
Forego this cursed detested place,
Abhor the strumpet and her race:
Had you those softer paths pursued,
Perdition, stripling, had ensued:
Yes, fly-you stand upon its brink;
To-morrow is too late to think.
Indeed unwelcome truths I tell,
But mark my sacred lesson well;
With me whoever lives at strife
Loses his better friend for life:
With me who lives in friendship's ties
Finds all that's sought for by the wise,
Folly exclaims, and well she may,
Because I take her mask away;
If once I bring her to the sun,
The painted harlot is undone.
But prize, my child, oh! prize my rules,
And leave deception to her fools.
• Ambition deals in tinsel toys,
Her traffic gewgaws, fleeting joys!
An arrant juggler in disguise,
Who holds false optics to your eyes.
But ah! how quick the shadows pass;
Though the bright visions through her glass
Charm at a distance; yet, when near,
The baseless fabrics disappear.
Nor Riches boast intrinsic worth,
Their charms, at best, superior earth:
These oft the heaven-born mind enslave,
And make an honest man a knave.
"Wealth cures my wants," the Miser cries;
Be not deceived-the Miser lies:
One want he has, with all his store,
That worst of wants! the want of more.
"Take Pleasure, Wealth, and Pomp away, And where is Happiness?" you say.
"Tis here-and may be yours-for know, I'm all that's Happiness below.
To Vice I leave tumultuous joys,
Mine is the still and softer voice,
That whispers peace when storms invade,
And music through the midnight shade.
Come then, be mine in every part,
Nor give me less than all your heart;
When troubles discompose your breast,
I'll enter there a cheerful guest:
My converse shall your cares beguile,
The little world within shall smile;
And then it scarce imports a jot,
Whether the great world frowns or not.
And when the closing scenes prevail,
When wealth, state, pleasure, all shall fail;
All that a foolish world admires,
Or passion craves, or pride inspires;
At that important hour of need,
Virtue shall prove a friend indeed!
My hands shall smooth thy dying bed,
My arms sustain thy drooping head:
And when the painful struggle's o'er,
And that vain thing, the world, no more;
I'll bear my favourite son away
To rapture and eternal day!'
FRIENDSHIP! thou soft, propitious power!
Sweet regent of the social hour!
Sublime thy joys, nor understood
But by the virtuous and the good!
Cabal and Riot take thy name,
But 'tis a false affected claim.
In heaven if Love and Friendship dwell,
Can they associate e'er with hell?
Thou art the same through change of times, Through frozen zones, and burning climes:
From the equator to the pole,
The same kind angel through the whole.
And since thy choice is always free,
I bless thee for thy smiles on me.
When sorrows swell the tempest high,
Thou, a kind port, art always nigh;
For aching hearts a sovereign cure,
Not soft nepenthe1 half so sure!
Nepenthe is a herb which, being infused in wine, dispels grief. It is unknown to the moderns: but some believe it a kind of opium, and others take it for a species of bugloss. Plin. 21. 21. & 25. 2.
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