The Poetical Works of Edward Young Part 18

Our soil's strong growth, And our bold natives' hardy mind; Sure heaven bespoke Our hearts and oak, To give a master to mankind.

That n.o.blest birth Of teeming earth, Of forests fair, that daughter proud, To foreign coasts Our grandeur boasts, And Britain's pleasure speaks aloud:

Now big with war, Sends fate from far, If rebel realms their fate demand, Now, sumptuous spoils Of foreign soils Pours in the bosom of our land.

Hence Britain lays In scales, and weighs The fate of kingdoms, and of kings; And as she frowns, Or smiles, on crowns A night, or day of glory, springs.

Thus ocean swells The streams and rills, And to their borders lifts them high; Or else withdraws The mighty cause, And leaves their famish'd channels dry.

How mixt, how frail, How sure to fail, Is every pleasure of mankind!

A damp destroys My blooming joys, While Britain's glory fires my mind.

For who can gaze On restless seas, Unstruck with life's more restless state?

Where all are tost, And most are lost, By tides of pa.s.sion, blasts of fate?

The world's the main, How vext! how vain!

Ambition swells, and anger foams; May good men find, Beneath the wind, A noiseless sh.o.r.e, unruffled homes!

The public scene Of harden'd men Teach me, O teach me to despise!

The world few know But to their woe, Our crimes with our experience rise;

All tender sense Is banish'd thence, All maiden nature's first alarms What shock'd before Disgust no more, And what disgusted has its charms.

In landscapes green True bliss is seen, With innocence, in shades, she sports; In wealthy towns Proud labour frowns, And painted sorrow smiles in courts.

These scenes untried Seduc'd my pride, To fortune's arrows bar'd my breast; Till wisdom came, A h.o.a.ry dame!

And told me pleasure was in rest.

"O may I steal Along the vale Of humble life, secure from foes!

My friend sincere!

My judgment clear!

And gentle business my repose!

"My mind be strong To combat wrong!

Grateful, O king! for favours shown!

Soft to complain For others' pain!

And bold to triumph o'er my own!

"(When fortune's kind) Acute to find, And warm to relish every boon!

And wise to still Fantastic ill, Whose frightful spectres stalk at noon!

"No fruitless toils!

No brainless broils!

Each moment levell'd at the mark!

Our day so short Invites to sport; Be sad and solemn when 'tis dark.

"Yet, prudence, still Rein thou my will!

What's most important, make most dear!

For 'tis in this Resides true bliss; True bliss, a deity severe!

"When temper leans To gayer scenes, And serious life void moments spares, The sylvan chase My sinews brace!

Or song unbend my mind from cares!

"Nor shun, my soul!

The genial bowl, Where mirth, good nature, spirit, flow!

Ingredients these, Above, to please The laughing G.o.ds, the wise, below.

"Though rich the vine, More wit than wine, More sense than wit, good-will than art, May I provide!

Fair truth, my pride!

My joy, the converse of the heart!

"The gloomy brow, The broken vow, To distant climes, ye G.o.ds! remove!

The n.o.bly soul'd Their commerce hold With words of truth and looks of love!

"O glorious aim!

O wealth supreme!

Divine benevolence of soul!

That greatly glows, And freely flows, And in one blessing grasps the whole;

"Prophetic schemes, And golden dreams, May I, unsanguine, cast away!

Have, what I have!

And live, not leave, Enamour'd of the present day!

"My hours my own!

My faults unknown!

My chief revenue in content!

Then, leave one beam Of honest fame!

And scorn the labour'd monument!

"Unhurt my urn!

Till that great turn When mighty nature's self shall die!

Time cease to glide, With human pride, Sunk in the ocean of eternity."

A PARAPHRASE ON PART OF THE BOOK OF JOB.(25)

To the Right Honourable Thomas Lord Parker, Baron of Macclesfield, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, etc. etc.

My Lord,

Though I have not the honour of being known to your lordship, I presume to take a privilege which men of retirement are apt to think themselves in possession of, as being the only method they have of making their way to persons of your lordship's high station without struggling through mult.i.tudes for access. I may possibly fail in my respect to your lordship, even while I endeavour to show it most; but if I err, it is because I imagined I ought not to make my first approach to one of your lordship's exalted character with less ceremony than that of a dedication. It is annexed to the condition of eminent merit, not to suffer more from the malice of its enemies, than from the importunity of its admirers; and perhaps it would be unjust, that your lordship should hope to be exempted from the troubles, when you possess all the talents, of a patron.

I have here a fair occasion to celebrate those sublime qualities, of which a whole nation is sensible, were it not inconsistent with the design of my present application. By the just discharge of your great employments, your lordship may well deserve the prayers of the distressed, the thanks of your country, and the approbation of your royal master: this indeed is a reason why every good Briton should applaud your lordship; but it is equally a reason why none should disturb you in the execution of your important affairs by works of fancy and amus.e.m.e.nt. I was therefore induced to make this address to your lordship, by considering you rather in the amiable light of a person distinguished for a refined taste of the polite arts, and the candour that usually attends it, than in the dignity of your public character.