On eager wing the fpoiler came, And fearch'd for crannies in the frame, To ev'ry pane his trunk applied ; The nymph between two chariot glaffes, The filly unfuccessful bee. The maid, who views with penfive air The fhow-glafs fraught with glitt'ring ware, Our dear delights are often fuch, HORACE. Вook the 2d. ODE the 10th. I. RECEIVE, dear friend, the truths I teach, So fhalt thou live beyond the reach Of adverfe Fortune's pow'r; Nor always timorously creep Along the treach'rous shore. II. He, that holds fast the golden mean, And lives contentedly between The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, Imbitt'ring all his state. III. The tallest pines feel most the pow'r The bolts, that spare the mountain's fide, And spread the ruin round. IV. The well-inform'd philosopher And hopes, in fspite of pain; Soon the sweet spring comes dancing forth, And nature laughs again. V. What if thine heav'n be overcaft, The dark appearance will not laft; Expect a brighter sky. The God that ftrings the filver bow And lays his arrows by. VI. If hindrances obftruct thy way, And let thy ftrength be feen; A REFLECTION ON THE FOREGOING ODE. AND is this all? Can reafon do no more Than bid me fhun the deep and dread the shore? The Chriftian has an art unknown to thee: And, trufting in his God, furmounts them all. |