British Classical Authors. Select Specimens of the National Literature of England and America, with Biographical Sketches and an Historical Outline of English Literature. Poetry and Prose

POPE.

The least confusion but in one, not all That system only, but the whole must fall. Let earth unbalanc'd from her orbit fly, Planets and suns run lawless through the 20 sky; Let ruling angels from their spheres be hurl'd, Being on being wreck'd, and world on

world, Heaven's whole foundations to the centre nod, And Nature tremble to the throne of God: All this dread Order break-for whom? for thee? 25

Vile worm!-O madness! pride! impiety!

What if the foot, ordain'd the dust to tread,

Or hand to toil, aspir'd to be the head? What if the head, the eye, or ear, repin'd To serve mere engines to the ruling Mind? Just as absurd for any part to claim To be another, in this gen'ral frame: Just as absurd to mourn the tasks or pains, The great directing Mind of All ordains.

All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the Soul: That chang'd through all, and yet in all the same, as in th'ethereal frame, Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees, Lives through all life, extends through all extent,

Great in the earth,

Spreads undivided, operates unspent;
Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal
part,

As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart;
As full, as perfect, in vile man that mourns,
As the rapt seraph that adores and burns:
To him no high, no low, no great, no
small;

He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all.

blame.

Cease then, nor Order imperfection name;
Our proper bliss depends on what we
50
Know thy own point: This kind, this due
degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heav'n bestows on
thee.

Submit.-In this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear:
Safe in the hand of one disposing Pow'r, 55
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.
All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee;
All Chance, Direction which thou canst not

see,

All Discord, Harmony not understood;
All partial Evil, universal Good:
And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's
spite,

One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.
(Essay on Man.)

THE ORIGIN OF SUPERSTITION
AND TYRANNY.

Who first taught souls enslav'd and realms undone,

Th'enormous faith of many made for one; That proud exception to all Nature's laws, T'invert the world, and counterwork its cause?

Force first made conquest, and that conquest law; Till Superstition taught the tyrant awe, Then shar'd the tyranny, then lent it aid, inade. And Gods of conqu'rors, slaves of subjects

She 'midst the lightning's blaze, and thunder's sound,

When rock'd the mountains, and when groan'd the ground, to pray She taught the weak to bend, the proud

they: To pow'rs unseen, and mightier far than

She, from the rending earth and bursting skies,

Saw Gods descend, and fiends infernal rise:
abodes;
Here fix'd the dreadful, there the blest
Gods;
Fear made her Devils, and weak Hope her
Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust,
Lust;
Whose attributes, were Rage, Revenge, or

Such as the souls of cowards might conceive,

believe. And, form'd like tyrants, tyrants would

Zeal, then, not Charity, became the guide;
on pride.
And Hell was built on spite, and Heav'n
Then sacred seem'd th'ethereal vault no

more;

Altars grew marble then, and reek'd with gore:

Then first the flamen Next his grim idol

With Heav'n's own

tasted living food: 25 blood; smear'd with human

thunders shook the world below,

And play'd the God an engine on his foe.

So drives Self-love, through just and through unjust,

To one Man's pow'r, ambition, lucre, lust: 30

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JOHN GAY.

JOHN GAY was born in 1688 at Barnstaple in Devonshire, and when young was apprenticed to a silk mercer in London; but his tastes unfitted him for this employment. After a few years he left his situation, and having attracted the notice of Pope and other literary men of the day by his first work entitled, Rural Sports' (1711), he was appointed secretary to Anne, Duchess of Monmouth, in which office he continued till the year 1714, when he accompanied the Earl of Clarendon (who was then ambassador of Queen Anne) to Hanover, where he remained till the Queen's death. In 1716 Gay brought out his fables, which are highly esteemed as specimens of their class, but they

A BALLAD.

"Twas when the seas were roaring With hollow blasts of wind,

A damsel lay deploring,

All on a rock reclined.

UNIVARSITY

CALIFORNIA

often approach the style of tales, and are rather allegories than fables. In 1727 he published the most celebrated of his productions, viz.: the Beggar's Opera,' which met with universal success: so that the author may be said to have laid the foundation of the English opera through this piece. He died soon after (1732) in his forty-fifth year, and was interred in Westminster Abbey, where a handsome monument has been erected to his memory. He also wrote a number of ballads, a poem called the Shepherd's Week,' and another with the title: "Trivia, or the Art of walking the Streets of London; all of which possess considerable merit.

Wide o'er the foaming billows,

But what's the loss of treasure,
To losing of my dear?
Should you some coast be laid on,
Where gold and diamonds grow,
You'd find a richer maiden,

But none that loves you so.

How can they say that nature Has nothing made in vain; Why then beneath the water, Should hideous rocks remain? No eyes the rocks discover

That lurk beneath the deep, To wreck the wandering lover, And leave the maid to weep.

THE SHEPHERD AND THE PHILO-
SOPHER.

Remote from cities, liv'd a swain,
Unvex'd with all the cares of gain;
His head was silver'd o'er with age,
And long experience made him sage:
In summer's heat and winter's cold,
He fed his flock, and penn'd the fold.
His hours in cheerful labour flew,
Nor envy nor ambition knew:
His wisdom and his honest fame

'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 chattering pie?
Nor would I, with felonious sleight,
By stealth invade my neighbour's right.
Rapacious animals we hate:

5 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.

Through all the country rais'd his name. 10 Thus ev'ry object of creation

A deep Philosopher (whose rules
Of moral life were drawn from schools),
The Shepherd's homely cottage sought,
And thus explored his reach of thought,
'Whence is thy learning? Hath thy toil 15
O'er books consumed the midnight oil?
Hast thou old Greece and Rome survey'd,
And the vast sense of Plato weigh'd?
Hath Socrates thy soul refin'd,
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?'

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,
When we ourselves can never know?
The little knowledge I have gain'd,
Was all from simple Nature drain'd:
Hence my life's maxims took their rise, 35
Hence grew my settled hate to vice.

"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, who from the chilly air,
With pious wing protects her care;
And ev'ry fowl that flies at large,
Instructs me in a parent's charge.

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 HARE AND MANY FRIENDS.
Friendship, in truth, is but a name,
Unless to few we stint the flame.
The child, whom many fathers share,
Hath seldom known a father's care.
"Tis thus in friendship; who depend
On many, rarely find a friend.

A hare, who in a civil way,
Complied with every thing, like Gay,
Was known by all the bestial train,
Who haunt the wood, or graze the plain. 19
Her care was, never to offend;
And ev'ry creature was her friend.

As forth she went, at early dawn,
40 To taste the dew-besprinkled lawn,
Behind she hears the hunter's cries,
And from the deep-mouth'd thunder flies
She starts, she stops, she pants for breath.
She hears the near advance of death;
45 She doubles to mislead the hound,

And measures back her mazy round;
Till, fainting in the public way,
Half-dead with fear she gasping lay.
What transport in her bosom grew.
50 When first the horse appear'd in view!

'Let me,' says she, 'your back ascend, 25 'How can that strong intrepid mind And owe my safety to a friend.

You know my feet betray my flight; To friendship ev'ry burthen's light.'

The horse replied, 'Poor honest puss!

It grieves my heart to see thee thus:

Be comforted, relief is near;

For all your friends are in the rear.'

She next the stately bull implor'd;
And thus replied the mighty lord:
'Since ev'ry beast alive can tell
That I sincerely wish you well,
I may, without offence, pretend
To take the freedom of a friend.-
To leave you thus might seem unkind;
But see, the goat is just behind.'

The goat remark'd her pulse was high,
Her languid head, her heavy eye;
'My back,' says he, 'may do you harm;
The sheep's at hand, and wool is warm.'

Attack a weak, defenceless kind?

Those jaws should prey on nobler food,
And drink the boar's and lion's blood.
Great souls with gen'rous pity melt,
Which coward tyrants never felt.

How harmless is our fleecy care!
Be brave and let thy mercy spare.'

'Friend,' says the Wolf, 'the matter weigh:
Nature designed us beasts of prey;
As such, when hunger finds a treat,
35 'Tis necessary wolves should eat.
If, mindful of the bleating weal,
Thy bosom burn with real zeal,
Hence, and thy tyrant lord beseech;
To him repeat the moving speech.
A wolf eats sheep but now and then;
Ten thousand are devoured by men!
An open foe may prove a curse,
But a pretended friend is worse.'

The sheep was feeble, and complain'd 45 His sides a load of wool sustain'd; Said he was slow, confess'd his fears; For hounds eat sheep as well as hares.

She now the trotting calf address'd To save from death a friend distress'd. Shall I,' says he, 'of tender age, In this important care engage? Older and abler pass'd you by: How strong are those! how weak am I! Should I presume to bear you hence, Those friends of mine might take offence. Excuse me, then. You know my heart, But dearest friends, alas! must part. How shall we all lament!- Adieu! For, see, the hounds are just in view.'

THE SHEPHERD'S DOG AND THE

WOLF.

Their club's perpetual president.

He caught their manners, looks, and airs;
An ass in ev'ry thing but ears!

If e'er his highness meant a joke,
They grinn'd applause before he spoke; 10
But, at each word, what shouts of praise!
Good Gods! how natural he brays!

Elate with flatt'ry and conceit,
He seeks his royal sire's retreat;
Forward, and fond to shew his parts,
His highness brays; the Lion starts!

'Puppy, that curs'd vociferation
Betrays thy life and conversation:
Coxcombs, an ever noisy race,
Are trumpets of their own disgrace.'
'Why so severe?' the Cub replies,
'Our senate always held me wise.'

'How weak is pride!' returns the sire; 'All fools are vain, when fools admire! But know, what stupid asses prize, Lions and noble beasts despise.'

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British Classical Authors. Select Specimens of the National Literature of ...