Is left one slimy waste. Those sullen seas, That wash the ungenial pole, will rest no more Beneath the shackles of the mighty north; But, rousing all their waves, resistless heave. And, hark! the lengthening roar continuous runs Athwart the rifted deep: at once it bursts, And piles a thousand mountains to the clouds. ill fares the bark with trembling wretches charged, That, tossed amid the floating fragments, moors Beneath the shelter of an icy isle,
While night o'erwhelms the sea, and horror looks More horrible. Can human force endure The assembled mischiefs that besiege them round? Heart-gnawing hunger, fainting weariness,
The roar of winds and waves, the crush of ice,
Now ceasing, now renewed with louder rage,
And in dire echoes bellowing round the main. More to embroil the deep, Leviathan
And his unwieldly train, in dreadful sport,
Tempest the loosened brine, while through the gloom, Far from the bleak inhospitable shore,
Loading the winds, is heard the hungry howl
Of famished monsters, there awaiting wrecks.
Yet Providence, that ever-waking eye, Looks down with pity on the feeble toil
Of mortals lost to hope, and lights them safe
Through all this dreary labyrinth of fate.
'Tis done! - dread Winter spreads his latest glooms, And reigns tremendous o'er the conquered year.
How dead the vegetable kingdom lies!
His desolate domain. Behold, fond man!
See here thy pictured life; pass some few years,
Thy flowering Spring, thy Summer's ardent strength, 103c
Thy sober Autumn fading into age,
And pale concluding Winter comes at last,
And shuts the scene. Ah! whither now are fled
Those dreams of greatness? those unsolid hopes
Of happiness? those longings after fame?
Those restless cares? those busy bustling days?
Those gay-spent, festive nights? those veering thoughts,
Lost between good and ill, that shared thy life?
All now are vanished! Virtue sole survives, Immortal, never-failing friend of man,
His guide to happiness on high. — And see! 'Tis come, the glorious morn! the second birth Of heaven and earth! awakening Nature hears The new-creating word, and starts to life, In every heightened form, from pain and death For ever free. *
THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES.
LET observation, with extensive view, Survey mankind, from China to Peru; Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife, And watch the busy scenes of crowded life: Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate, O'erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate, Where wav'ring man, betray'd by vent'rous pride To tread the dreary paths without a guide, As treach'rous phantoms in the mist delude, Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good;
How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice,
Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant voice; How nations sink, by darling schemes oppress'd,
When Vengeance listens to the fool's request. Fate wings with ev'ry wish th' afflictive dart, Each gift of nature and each grace of art; With fatal heat impetuous courage glows, With fatal sweetness elocution flows,
Impeachment stops the speaker's pow'rful breath, And restless fire precipitates on death.
But, scarce observ'd, the knowing and the bold
Fall in the gen'ral massacre of gold;
Wide-wasting pest! that rages unconfin'd,
And crowds with crimes the records of mankind:
For gold his sword the hireling ruffian draws, For gold the hireling judge distorts the laws : Wealth heap'd on wealth nor truth nor safety buys; The dangers gather as the treasures rise.
Let hist'ry tell, where rival kings command, And dubious title shakes the madded land, When statutes glean the refuse of the sword, How much more safe the vassal than the lord; Low sculks the hind beneath the rage of pow'r, And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tow'r, Untouch'd his cottage, and his slumbers sound, Tho' confiscation's vultures hover round.
The needy traveller, serene and gay, Walks the wide heath, and sings his toil away. Does envy seize thee? Crush th' upbraiding joy, Increase his riches, and his peace destroy: New fears in dire vicissitude invade;
The rustling brake alarms, and quiv'ring shade ; Nor light nor darkness bring his pain relief, One shows the plunder, and one hides the thief.. Yet still one gen'ral cry the skies assails, And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales; Few know the toiling statesman's fear or care, Th' insidious rival and the gaping heir.
Once more, Democritus, arise on earth, With cheerful wisdom and instructive mirth, See motley life in modern trappings dress'd, And feed with varied fools th' eternal jest.
Where wealth unlov'd without a mourner dy'd;
Toil crush'd conceit, and man was of a piece;
Thou who couldst laugh where want enchain'd caprice,
And scarce a sycophant was fed by pride; Where ne'er was known the form of mock debate, Or seen a new-made mayor's unwieldy state; Where change of fav'rites, made no change of laws, And senates heard before they judg'd a cause; How wouldst thou shake at Britain's modish tribe, Dart the quick taunt, and edge the piercing gibe! Attentive truth and nature to descry, And pierce each scene with philosophic eye. To thee were solemn toys or empty show The robes of pleasure and the veils of woe: All aid the farce, and all thy mirth maintain,
Whose joys are causeless, or whose griefs are vain. Such was the scorn that fill'd the sage's mind, Renew'd at ev'ry glance on human kind. How just that scorn ere yet thy voice declare, Search every state, and canvass ev'ry pray'r.
Unnumber'd suppliants crowd Preferment's gate, Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great; Delusive Fortune hears th' incessant call: They mount, they shine, evaporate, and fall. On ev'ry stage the foes of peace attend;
Hate dogs their flight, and insult mocks their end; Love ends with hope; the sinking statesman's door Pours in the morning worshipper no more; For growing names the weekly scribbler lies, To growing wealth the dedicator flies; From ev'ry room descends the painted face, That hung the bright palladium of the place, And smok'd in kitchens, or in auction sold, To better features yields the frame of gold; For now no more we trace in ev'ry line Heroick worth, benevolence divine: The form distorted justifies the fall, And detestation rids th' indignant wall.
But will not Britain hear the last appeal,
Sign her foes' doom, or guard her fav'rites' zeal?
Thro' Freedom's sons no more remonstrance rings, Degrading nobles and controlling kings;
Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats,
And ask no questions but the price of votes ; With weekly libels and septennial ale,
Their wish is full to riot and to rail.
In full-blown dignity see Wolsey stand, Law in his voice, and fortune in his hand:
To him the church, the realm, their pow'rs consign, Thro' him the rays of regal bounty shine,
Turn'd by his nod the stream of honour flows, His smile alone security bestows:
Still to new heights his restless wishes tow'r,
Claim leads to claim, and pow'r advances pow'r;
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