Nor is it only thus, but must be so.
Who knows not this, though grey, is still a child.
Loose then from earth the grasp of fond desire,
Weigh anchor, and some happier clime explore.
Art thou so moor'd thou canst not disengage,
Nor give thy thoughts a ply to future scenes? p. 43.
Should not each dial strike us as we pass,
Portentous, as the written wall, which struck,
O'er midnight bowls, the proud Assyrian pale,
Erewhile high flush'd with insolence and wine? -
Like that, the dial speaks; and points to thee,
Lorenzo! loth to break thy banquet up:
"O man, thy kingdom is departing from thee;
"And, while it lasts is emptier than shade."
my
Its silent language such: No needst thou call
Thy Magi, to decypher what it ineans.
But such our gravitation to the wrong,
So prone our hearts to whisper what we wish,
'Tis later with the wise, than he's aware;
A Wilmington goes slower than the sun :
And all mankind mistake their time of day:
E'en age itself. Fresh hopes are hourly sown
In furrow'd brows. So genteel life's descent,
We shut our eyes, and think it is a plain..
We take fair days in Winter for the Spring;
And turn our blessings into bane. Since oft
Man must compute that age he cannot feel,
He scarce believes he's older for his years.
Thus, at life's latest eve, we keep in store
One disappointment sure, to crown the rest;
The disappointment of a promis'd hour.
Know'st thou, Lorenzo! what a friend contains ?
As bees mix'd nectar draw from fragrant flow'rs,
So men from friendship, wisdom, and delight;
Twins ty'd by nature; if they part they die.
Hast thou no friend to set thy mind abroach?
Good sense will stagnate. Thoughts shut up, want air,
And spoil, like bales unopen'd to the sun.
Had thought been all, sweet speech had been deny'd ; Speech, thought's canal! Speech, thought's criterion too!
Thought in the mine, may come forth gold or dross; When coin'd in word, we know its real worth.
If sterling, store it for thy future use;
"Twill buy thee benefit; perhaps renown.
'Tis converse qualifies for solitude;
As exercise, for salutary rest.
Lorenzo! pride repress; nor hope to find
A friend, but what had found a friend in thee.
All like the purchase; few the price will pay;
And this makes friends such miracles below.
What if (since daring on so nice a theme)
I shew thee friendship delicate, as dear,
Of tender violations apt to die?
Reserve will wound it; and distrust, destroy.
Deliberate on all things with thy friend.
But since friends grow not thick on ev'ry bough,
Nor ev'ry friend unrotten at the core ;
First, on thy friend, delib'rate with thyself;
Pause, ponder, sift; not eager in the choice,
Nor jealous of the chosen; fixing, fix;
Judge before friendship, then confide till death. p. 49.
Friendship's the wine of life; but friendship new
(Not such was his) is neither strong nor pure.
O! for the bright complexion, cordial warmth,
And elevating spirit, of a friend,
For twenty summers rip'ning by my side;
All feculence of falsehood long thrown down;
All social virtues rising in his soul;
As crystal clear; and smiling, as they rise!
Here nectar flows; it sparkles in our sight;
Rich to the taste and genuine from the heart.
Like birds, whose beauties languish. half conceal'd,
Till, mounted on the wing, their glossy plumes
Expanded shine with azure, green, and gold;
How blessings brighten as they take their flight!
p. 50.
The chamber where the good man meets his fate,
Is privileg'd beyond the common walk
Of virtuous life, quite in the verge of heaven.
Fly, ye profane! if not. draw near with awe,
Receive the blessing, and adore the chance,
That threw in this Bethesda your disease;
If unrestor❜d by this, despair your cure.
For, here, resistless demonstration dwells;
A death bed's a detecter of the heart.
O! lost to virtue, lost to manly thought,
Lost to the noble sallies of the soul!
Who think it solitude to be alone.
Woes cluster; rare are solitary woes ;
They love a train, they tread each other's heel;
And will not the severe excuse a sigh?
Scorn the proud man that is ashamed to weep:
Our tears indulg'd, indeed deserve our shame. p. 59.
At thy friend's expense be wise;
Lean not on earth; 'twill pierce thee to the heart;
A broken reed, at best; but, oft, a spear;
On its sharp point peace bleeds, and hope expires.
p. 60.
Man, hard of heart to man! Of horrid things
Most horrid! 'Mid stupendous, highly strange!
Yet oft his courtesies are smoother wrongs;
Pride brandishes the favours he confers,
And contumelious his humanity:
What then his vengeance? Hear it not, ye stars!
And thou, pale moon! turn paler at the sound:
Man is to man the sorest, surest ill.
A previous blast foretells the rising storm;
O'erwhelming turrets threaten ere they fall;
Volcanos bellow ere they disembogue;
Earth trembles ere her yawning jaws devour;
And smoke betrays the wide-consuming fire:
Ruin from man is most conceal'd when near,
And sends the dreadful tidings in the blow.
Is this the flight of fancy? Would it were !
Heav'ns Sov'reign saves all beings but himself,
That hideous sight, a naked human heart.
Let wisdom blossom from my mortal wound.
Our dying friends come o'er us like a cloud,
To damp our brainless ardours; and abate
That glare of life, which often blinds the wise, p. 65.
And why not think on death? is life the theme
Of ev'ry thought? and wish of ev'ry hour?
And song of ev'ry joy? Surprising truth!
The beaten Spaniel's fondness not so strange. p.64.
We give to time eternity's regard
And, dreaming, take our passage for our port. p. 68.
Starts timid nature at the gloomy pass?
The soft transition call it, and be cheer'd :
Such it is often, and why not to thee?
To hope the best is pious, brave, and wise;
And may itself procure what it presumes.
Life is much flatter'd, death is much traduced;
Compare the rivals, and the kinder crown.
Death has feign'd evils, nature shall not feel;
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