And hast thou fathom'd Tully's mind?
Or, like the wise Ulysses, thrown,
By various fates on realms unknown,
Hast thou through many cities stray'd,
Their customs, laws, and manners weigh'd?"
3. The shepherd modestly replied,
"I ne'er the paths of learning tried,
Nor have I roam'd in foreign parts,
To read mankind, their laws and arts:
For man is practis'd in disguise,
He cheats the most discerning eyes.
Who by that search shall wiser grow?
By that ourselves we never know.
The little knowledge I have gain'd,
Was all from simple nature drained;
Hence my
life's maxims took their rise,
Hence grew my settled hate of vice.
4. The daily labours of the bee
Awake my soul to industry.
Who can observe the careful ant,
And not provide for future want?
My dog (the trustiest of his kind)
With gratitude inflames my mind:
I mark his true, his faithful way,
And in my service copy Tray.
In constancy and nuptial love,
I learn my duty from the dove,
The hen that from the chilly air,
With pious wing protects her care,
And ev'ry fowl that flies at large,
Instruct me in a parent's charge.
5. From nature too I take my rule,
To shun contempt and ridicule.
I never with important air,
In conversation overbear.
Can grave and formal pass for wise,
When men the solemn owl despise ?
My tongue within my lips I rein;
For who talks much must talk in vain.
We from the wordy torrent fly;
Who listens to the chatt'ring pye
Nor would I, with felonious flight,
By stealth invade my neighbour's right
6. Rapacious animals we hate;
Kites, hawks, and wolves, deserve their fate.
Do not we just abhorrence find
Against the toad and serpent kind?
But envy, calumny, and spite,
Bear stronger venom in their bite.
Thus ev'ry object of creation
Can furnish hints to contemplation;
And from the most minute and mean,
A virtuous mind can morals glean."
Thy fame is just," the sage replies;
Thy virtue proves thee truly wise.
Pride often guides the author's pen,
Books as affected are as men :
But he who studies nature's laws,
From certain truth his maxims draws;
And those without our schools, suffice
To make men moral, good, and wise."
THE ROAD TO HAPPINESS OPEN TO ALL MEN.
1. On happiness! our being's end and aim!
Good, pleasure, ease, content! whate'er thy name;
That something still which prompts th' eternal sigh,
For which we bear to live, or dare to die;
Which still so near us, yet beyond us lies,
O'erlook'd, seen double, by the fool and wise;
Plant of celestial seed, if dropt below,
Say, in what mortal soil thou deign'st to grow
2. Fair op'ning to some court's propitious shrine,
Or deep with di'monds in the flaming mine?
Twin'd with the wreaths Parnassian laurels yield,
Or reap'd in iron harvests of the field?
Where grows? where grows it not? if vain our toil,
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.
Fix'd to no spot is happiness sincere ;
'Tis no where to be found, or ev'ry where ;
'Tis never to be bought, but always free ;
And fled from monarchs, St. John! dwells with thee. 3. Ask of the learn'd the way. The learn'd are blind ; This bids to serve, and that to shun mankind; Some place the bliss in action, some in ease; Those call it pleasure, and contentment these : Some sunk to beasts, find pleasure end in pain ; Some swelled to gods, confess ev'n virtue vain; Or indolent, to each extreme they fall, To trust in ev'ry thing, or doubt of all.
4. Who thus define it, say they more or less
Than this, that happiness is happiness?
Take nature's path, and mad opinions leave;
All states can reach it, and all heads conceive;
Obvious her goods, in no extreme 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 gen'ral laws;"
And makes what happiness we justly call
Subsist not in the good of one, but all.
SECTION IV.
THE GOODNESS OF PROVIDENCE.
1. 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 noon-day walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
2. When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountains pant;
To fertile vales, and dewy meads,
My weary wand'ring steps he leads :
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
3. Tho' in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill;
For thou, O Lord, art with me still ;
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.
4. Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile;
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.
THE CREATOR'S WORKS ATTEST HIS GREATNESS.
1. THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great original proclaim.
Th' unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's pow'r display,
And publishes to ev'ry land,
The work of an Almighty hand.
2. Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wond'rous tale,
And, nightly, to the list'ning earth,
Repeats the story of her birth :
Whilst all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
3. What though, in solemn silence, all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball!
What though no real voice nor sound,,
Amid their radiant orbs be found!
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
For ever singing as they shine,
"The hand that made us is divine."
SECTION VI.
AN ADDRESS TO THE DEITY.
1. O THOU! Whose balance does the mountains weigh;
Whose will the wild tempestuous seas obey;
Whose breath can turn those wat'ry worlds to flame,
That flame to tempest, and that tempest tame,
Earth's meanest son, all trembling, prostrate falls,
And on the boundless of thy goodness calls..
2. O give the winds all past offence to sweep,
To scatter wide, or bury in the deep.
Thy pow'r, my weakness, may I ever see,
And wholly dedicate my soul to thee.
Reign o'er my will; my passions ebb and flow
At thy command, nor human motive know!
If anger boil, let anger be my praise,
And sin the graceful indignation raise.
My love be warm to succour the distress'd,
And lift the burden from the soul oppress'd.
3. O may my understanding ever read
This glorious volume which thy wisdom made!
May sea and land, and earth and heaven, be join'd,,
To bring th' eternal Author to my mind!
When oceans roar, or awful thunders roll,
May thoughts of thy dread vengeance shake my soul!
When earth's in bloom, or planets proudly shine,
Adore, my heart, the Majesty divine!
4. Grant I may ever at the morning ray,
Open with pray'r the consecrated day;
Tune thy great praise, and bid my soul arise,
And with the mounting sun ascend the skies
As that advances, let my zeal improve,
And glow with ardour of consummate love;
Nor cease at eve, but with the setting sun
My endless worship shall be still begun.
5. And oh permit the gloom of solemn night,
To sacred thought may forcibly invite.
When this world's shut, and awful planets rise,
Call on our minds, and raise them to skies!
Compose our souls with a less dazzling sight,
And show all nature in a milder light;
How ev'ry boist'rous thought in calm subsides;
How the smooth'd spirit into goodness glides!
G. Oh, how divine! to tread the milky way,
To the bright palace of the Lord of Day ;
His court admire, or for his favour sue,
Or leagues of friendship with his saints renew;
Pleas'd to look down and see the world asleep;
While I long vigils to its founder keep!
Canst thou not shake the centre? Oh, controul,
Subdue by force, the rebel in my soul;
Thou, who canst still the raging of the flood,
Restrain the various tumults of my blood;
Teach me with equal firmness, to sustain
Alluring pleasure, and assaulting pain.
7. O may I pant for thee in each desire!
And with strong faith foment the holy fire!
Stretch out my soul in hope, and grasp the prize,
Which in eternity's deep bosom lies!
At the great day of recompense behold,
Devoid of fear, the fatal book unfold!
Then wafted upward to the blissful seat,
From age to age my grateful song repeat;
My Light, my Life, my God, my Saviour see,
And rival angels in the praise of thee!
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS OFTEN ILL-DIRECTED.
1. THE midnight moon serenely smiles
O'er nature's soft repose ;
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