Works of William Cowper

!; ;; : ; THE TASK. 4-5—Though placed in Paradise, (for earth Yes, thou mayest eat thy bread, andhas still lick the hand [the floorSometraces of her youthful beanty left.) That feeds thee; thou mayest froiiconSubstantial happiness for transient joy. At evening, and at night retire secureScenes form'd for contemplation, and To thy straw couch, and slumber un-to nurse [suggest. alarm d [have pledgedThe growing seeds of wisdom ; that For I have gain'd thy confidence,By every pleasing image they present, All that is human in me to protectEeflections such as meliorate the heart, Thine unsuspecting gratitude and love.Compose the passions, and exalt the If I survive thee I will dig thy gravemind [delight And when I place thee in it, sighingScenes such as these, 'tis his supreme say, [friend.To fill with riot, and deSIe with blood I knew at least one hare that had aShould some contagion, kind to the How various his employments, whom poor brutes the worldWe persecute, annihilate the tribes Calls idle, and who justly in returnThat draw the sportsman over hill and Esteems that busy world an idler too!dale [cares Friends, books, a garden, and perhapsFearless, and rapt away from all his his pen.Should never game-fowl hatch her Delightful industry enjoy'd at home,eggs again, And Nature in her cultivated trimNor baited book deceive the fish's eye; Dress'd to his taste, inviting himCould pageantry and dance, and feast abroad—and fong [retreats Can he want occupation who has these?Be quell'd in all our summer-months' Will he be idle who has much to en-How many self-deluded nj-mphs and joy? [ease,swains, [and groves, Me, therefore, studious of laboriousWho dream they have a taste for fields Not slothful, happy to deceive the time.Would find them hideous nm'series of Not waste it, and aware that human lifethe spleen, town! Is but a loan to be repaid with use.And crowd the roads, impatient for the When He shall call His debtors toThey love the country, and none else, account, [business findswho seek shade From whom are all our blessings,For their own sake its silence and its Even here, while sedulous I seek toDelights which who would leave, that improve, [employ'd,has a heart At least neglect not, or leave un-Susceptible of pity, or a mind The mind He gave me; driving it,Cultured and capable of sober thought, though slack [workFor all the savage din of the swift pack. Too oft, and much impeded in itsAnd clamours of the field? Detested By causes not to be divulged in vain. —[pain, To its just point the service of man-sport,That owes its pleasures to another's kind.That feeds upon the sobs and dying He that attends to his interior self;shrieks [endued That has a heart and keeps it ; has a,Of harmless nature, dumb, but yet mind [who seeksWith eloquence that agonies inspire That htmgers and supplies it; andAOf sOent tears and heart distending social, not a dissipated life.sighs [find Has business ; feels himself engaged toVaia tears, alas ! and sighs that never achieveA corresponding tone in jovial souls. No unimportant, though a silent task.— AWell one at least is safe. One shel- life all turbulence and noise mayter'd hare seem, [praised;Has never heard the sanguinary yell To him that leads it, wise and to beOf cruel man. exulting in her woes. But vrisdom is a pearl with most suc-Innocent partner of my peaceful home. cess [clear skies.Whom ten long years' experience of Sought in still water, and beneath my care He that is ever occupied in storms,Has made at last familiar, she has lost Or dives not for it, or brings up instead.Much of her vigilant instinctive dread. Vainly industrious, a disgraceful prize.Not needful here, beneath a roof like The morning finds the self-seques- mine. ter'd man

:; — !46 COWPEB'S POEMS.Fresh for his task, iatend what task With blushing fruits, and plenty nothe may. his ovra.Whether inclement seasons recom- Fair recompense of labour well be-mend [enjoys, stow'd, [rudeHis warm hut simple home, where he And wise precaution, which a clime soWith her who shares his pleasures and Makes needful still, whose Spring ishis heart, [grant lymph but the child [moodsSweet converse, sipping calm the fra- Of churlish Winter, in her frowardWhich neatly she prepares; then to Discovering much the temper of her his book sire.Well chosen, and not sullenly perused For oft, as if in her the stream of mild Maternal nature had reversed itsIn saltish silence, hut imparted oft course, [smiles,As aught occurs that she may smile tohear, She brings her infants forth with manyOr turn to nourishment digested well. But once dehver'd, kills them with aOr if the garden with its many cares. frown. [suppliesAll well repaid, demand him, he He therefore, timely warn'd, himselfattends [the hand Her want of care, screening and keep-The welcome call, conscious how much ing warm [blast may sweepOf lubbard Labour needs his watchful The plenteous bloom, that no rougheye. His garlands from the boughs. Again,Of loitering lazily if not o erseen. as oft [breathe mild.Or misapplying his unskilful strength. As the sun peeps and vernal airsNor does he govern only or direct. The fence withdrawn, he gives themBut much performs himself; no works every beam, [of day.indeed, [toil. And spreads his hopes before the blaze—That ask robust tough sinews bred to To raise the prickly and green-Servile employ, but such as may coated gourd, [rareamuse. [force. So grateful to the palate, and whenNot tire, demanding rather skill than —So coveted , else base and disesteem'd,Proud of his weU-spread waUs, he views Food for the vulgar merely. is an anhis trees, That toiling ages have but i ust matured,That meet, no barren interval between. And at this moment unessay'd in song.With pleasure more than even their Yet gnats have had, and frogs andfruits afford, [none can feel mice, long since, [bard,wiiich, save himself who trains them, Their eulogy; those sang the MantuanThese therefore are his own peculiar And these the Grecian, in ennoblingcharge, [shoots. strains [for ayeNo meaner hand may discipline the And in thy numbers, Phillips, shinesNone but his steel approach them. The sohtary Shilling Pardon then,What is weak, Ye sage dispensers of poetic fameDistemper'd, or has lost prolific powers, The ambition of one meaner far, whoseImpair' d by age, his unrelenting hand, powers, Presuming an attempt not less sublime,Dooms to the knife : nor does he spare Pant for the praise of dressing to thethe soft [growth,And succulent that feeds its giant tasteBut barren, at the expense of neigh- Of critic appetite, no sordid fare,bouring twigs [thick A cucumber, while costly yet andLess ostentatious, and yet studded scarce. [iie^^'PiWith hopeful gems. The rest, no por- The stable yields a stercoraceouation left [point Impregnated with quick fermentingThat may disgrace his art, or disap- salts.Large expectation, he disposes neat And potent to resist the freezing blast: For ere the beech and elm have castAt measured distances, that air and sun. their leafAdmitted freely, may afford their aid. Deciduous, when now November dark Checks vegetation in the torpid plantAnd ventilate ana warm the swelling Exposed to his cold breath, the taskbuds. [hence.Hence Summer has her riches, Autumn begins.And hence even Winter fills his Warily, therefore, and with prudentwither'd hand heed,

:: THE TASK. 47He seeks a favour'd spot; that where And drank no moisture from the drip-he builds [front ping clouds [hides The agglomerated pile, his frame may These on the warm and genial earth thatiThe suu's meridiau disk, and at the The smoking manure, and o'erspreadsj [\"hedge it ail. backI Enjoy close shelter, wall, or reeds, or He places lightly, and as time subduesImpervious to the wind. First he bids The rage of fermentation, plunges deepI [bibe In the soft medium, tiU they stand im- spreadDry fern or litter'd hay, that may im- mersed, [quickThe ascending damps; then leisurely Then rise the tender germs, upstarting And spreading wide their spongy lobes, impose. at firstAnd lightly, shaking it with agile handFrom the full fork, tiie saturated straw. Pale, v>'an, and livid, but assuming soon,What longest binds the closest, forms If fauud by balmy and nutritious air,secure Strain'd through the friendly mats, aThe shapely side, that as it rises takes. vivid gi'een. [dented leaves.By just degrees.an overhangiugbreadth Two leaves produced, two rough, in-Sheltering the base with its projected Cautious he pinches from the secondeaves, [joint, stalk [sprout,AThe uplifted frame compact at every pimple, that portends a futureAnd overlaid with clear, translucent And interdicts its growth. Thence glass, straight succeed [wish.He settles next upon the sloping mount, The bnxnches, sturdy to his utmostWhose sharp declivity shoots off secureFrom the dash'd pane the deluge as it Prolific all. and harbingers of more. The crowded roots demand enlarge-falls [ends. ment now.He shuts it close, and the first labour And transplantation in an ampler space.Thrice must the voluble and restless Indulged in what they wish, they soonearth [warmth. supply [flowers.Spin round upon her axle, ere the Large foliage, overshadowing goldenSiow gathering in the midst, through Blown on the summit of the apparentthe square mass [behold! fruit. [mor shinesDiffused, attain the surface ; when, These have their sexes, and when sum-A pestilent and most corrosive steam, The bee transports the fertilising mealLike a gross fog Bosotiaa, rising fast, From flower to flower, and even theAnd fast condensed upon the dewy sash, breathing air [use.Asks egress; which obtain'd, the over- Wafts the rich prize to its appointedcharged [abroad, Not so when winter scowls. AssistantAnd drench'd conservatory breathes art [passIn volumes wheeling slow, the vapour Then acts in Nature's office, brings todank, The glad espousals, and ensures theAnd purified, rejoices to have lost crop. [must haveIts foul inhabitant. But to assuage Grudge not, ye rich, (since luxuryThe impatient fervour which it first His dainties, and the world's moreconceives [death numerous halfWithin its reeking bosom, threatening Lives by contriving deUcates for you,)To his yoimg hopes, requires discreet Grudge not the cost. Ye little knowdelay. [oft the cares.Experience, slow preceptress, teaching The vigilance, the labour, and the skillThe way to glory by miscarriage foul. That day and night are exercised, andMust prompt him, and admonish how hangto catch [per'd heat. Upon the ticklish balance of suspense,The auspicious moment, when the tern- That ye may garnish your profuse re-Friendly to vital motion, may afford gales [wintry suns.Soft fermentation, and invite the seed. With summer fruits brought forth byThe seed, selected wisely, plump and Ten thousand dangers lie in wait tosmooth, thwart [and sleam.And glossy, he commits to pots of size The pi'ocess. Heat and cold, and windDiminutive, well tilled with well-pre- Moisture and drought, mice, worms andpared [sured long, swarming flies, [workAnd fruitful soil that has been trea- Minute as dust and numberless, oft D

;43 COWPER'S POEMS.Dire disappointment that admits no Some note of Nature's music from hiscure. [were long, lips, [seenAnd which no care can obviate. It And covetous of Shakspeare's beautyToo long to tell the expedients and the In eveiy flash of his far-beaming eye.shifts Nor taste alone and well-contrivedWhich he that flRhts a season so severe display [the graceDevises, while he guards his tender Suffice to give the marshall'd rankstrust. [and wise Of their complete effect. Much yetAnd oft, at last, in vain. The learned remainsSarcastic would exclaim, and judge the Unsung, and many cares are yet behind.song [the fruit And more laborious; cares on whichCold as its theme, and, like its theme, depends [restored.Of too much labour, worthless when Their vigour, injured soon, not soonproduced. [house too. The soil must be renew'd, which oftenWho loves a garden, loves a green- wash'd.Unconscious of a less projiii ious clime. Loses its treasure of salubrious salts.There blooms exotic beaiaty, warm and And disappoints the roots ; the slendersnug, [descend. roots [vaseWhile the winds whistle and the snows Close interwoven, where they meet (heThe spiry myrtle with unwithering leaf Must smooth be shorn away ; the sap-Shines there and flourishes. The less branch [leafgolden boast Must fly before the knife ; the wither'dOf Portugal and western India there. Must be detach'd, and where it strewsThe ruddier orange and the paler lime. the floor [ing elsePeep through their polish'd foliage at Swept with a woman's neatness, breed-the storm, [not fear. Contagion, and disseminating death.And seem to smile at what they need Discharge but these kind ofBces, (andThe amomum there with intermingling who [like these ?)flowers [ium boasts Would spare, that loves them, officesAnd cherries hangs her twigs. Geran- Well they reward the toil The sightller crimson honours, and the spangled is pleased.beau, The scent regaled, each odoriferousleaf.Ficoides, glitters bright the winter long. Each opening blossom, freely breathesAll plants, of every leaf that can endure abroad [sweets.The winter's frown, if screen'd from Its gratitude, and thanks him with itshis shrewd bite, [claims. So manifold, all pleasing in theirLive there and prosper. Those Ausonia kind, [Ufe,Levantine regions these ; the Azores All healthful, are the employs of ruralsend Reiterated as the wheel of timeTheir jessamine, her jessamine remote Runs round, still ending, and begin-Caffraria: foreigners from many lauds, ning still. [knollThey form one social shade, as if con- Nor are these all. To deck the shapelyvened [IjTe. That softly swell'd and gaily dress'd,By magic summons of the Orphean appears [lawnYet just arrangement, rarely brought A flowery island, from the dark greento pass Emerging, must be deem'd a labourBut by a master's hand, disposing well due [of taste.The gay diver.silies of leaf and flower. To no mean hand, and asks the touchMust lend its aid to illustrate all their Here also grateful mixture of well-charms, [scene. match'd [relief.And dress the regular yet various And sorted hues, (each giving eachPlant behind plant aspiring, in the van And by contrasted beauty shiningThe dwarfish, in the rear retired, but more,) [ponderous spade.still [stand. Is needful. Strength may wield theSublime above the rest, the statelier May turn the clod, and wheel the com-So once were ranged the sons of ancient post home, [shews,Rome, [stage But elegance, chief grace the gardenA noble show! while Roscius trod the And most attractive, is the ff ir resultAnd so, while Garriok as renowu'd as Of thought, the creature of a polish'dhe, [lose mind.The Bona of Albion, fearing each to Without it, all is Gothic as the Bcene

; ;; rASK. 49 To which the insipid citizen resorts By traitor appetite, and arm'd with Near yonder heath where industry darts [bing breast, ; misspent, [task, Temper'd in hell, invades the throb- But proud of his uncouth ill-chosen To combat maybe glorious, and success Has made a heaven on earth; with Perhaps may crown us; but to fly is suns and moons [encumber'd soil. safe. Of close ramm'd stones has charged the Had I the choice of sublunary good. And fairly laid the zodiac in the dust. What could I wish, that I possess not He therefore who would sea his flowers hero ? [friendship, peace disposed Health, leisure, means to improve it. Sightly and in just order, ere he gives No loose or wanton, though a wander- The beds the trusted treasure of their ing muse, seeds, [the scene And constant occupation without care. Forecasts the future whole ; that when Thus blest, I draw a picture of that Shall break into its pi'econceived dis- bliss; play, [voice Hopeless indeed that dissipated minds, Each for itself, and all as with one And profligate abusers of a world Conspiring, may attest his bright de- Created fair so much in vain for them, sign, [form'd Should seek the guiltless joys that I Nor even then, dismissing as per- describe, His pleasant work, may he suppose it Allured by my report : but sure no less done. [wind That, self-coudemn'd, they must ne- Few self-supported flowers endure the glect the prize, [yet approve. Uninjured, but expect the upholding And what they will not taste must aid [tied. What we admire we praise ; and when Of the smooth shaven prop, and neatly we praise. Are wedded thus like beauty to old age, Advance it into notice, that its worth Forinterest sake, the liviug to the dead. Acknowledged, others may admire it Some clothe the soil that feeds them, too. [risk far-diffused [fair. I therefore recommend, though at the And lowly creeping, modest and yet Of popular disgust, yet boldlj' still. Lilie virtue, thriving most where little The cause of piety and sacred truth. seen. [hour shrub And virtue, and those scenes which Some, more aspiring, catch the neigh- God ordain'd [them most With clasping tendrils, and invest his Should best secure them and promote branch, [festoon Scenes that I love, and with regret per- Else unadorn'd, with many a gay ceive And fragrant chaplot, recompensing Forsaken, or through folly not enjoy'd. well [grace they lend. Pure is the nymph, though liberal of The strength they borrowed with the her smiles, [I extol; All hate the rank society of weeds, And chaste, though unconfined, whom Noisome, and ever greedy to exhaust Not as the prince in Sushan, when he The impoverish'd earth ; an overbear- cAll'd, [forth ing race. Vainglorious of her charms, his Vashti That like the multitude, made faction- To grace the full pavilion. His designI mad, [worth. Was but to boast his own peculiar good. DisturlD good order, and degrade true Which all might view with envy, noneI Oh, blest seclusion from a jarring partake. [sweets,I world, [Betreat My charmer is not mine alone; my myWhich he, thus occupied, enjoys ! And she that sweetens all bittersj too, [form Cannot indeed to guilty man restoreI Lost innocence, or cancel follies past Nature, enchanting Nature, in whoseI But it has peace, and much secures the And lineaments divine I trace a handI That errs not, and find raptures still mind From all assaults of evil, proving still renew'd,AI faithful barrier, not o'erleap'd with Is free to all men, universal prize.I ease Strange that so fair a creature shouldj yet want By vicious custom, raging uncontroll'd Abroad, and desolating public life. Admirers, and be destined to divideI When fierce temptation, seconded with- With meaner objects even the few shoI finds.

—;50 COWPEE'S POEMS.Stripp'd of her onaaments, her leaves But in a distant spot; where more ex-and flowers posed,She loses all her influence. Cities then It may enjoy the advantage of theAttract us. and neglected nature pines, north, [transform'dAbaudon'd, as unworthy of our love. And aguish east, till time shall haveBut are not wholesome airs, though un- Those naked acres to a shelteriugperfumed [scarcely fell. grove. [comes a lawn.By roses, and clear suns though He speaks. The lake in front be-And groves, if unharmonious, yet se- Woods vanish, hills subside, and val-cure [silence charms. leys rise,From clamour, and whose very And streams, as if created for his use,To be preferr'd to smoke, to the eclipse Pursue the track of his directing wand.That metropolitan volcanoes make. Sinuous or straight, now rapid and nowWhose Stygian throats breathe dark- slow, [cascades.ness all day long, [slow. Now murmuring soft, now roaring inAnd to the stir of commerce, driving Even as he bids. The enrapturedAnd thundering loud, with his ten owner smiles. [seems,thousand wheels? [the head. 'Tis flnish'd! and yet, flnish'd as itThey would be, were not madness in Still wants a grace, the loveliest itAnd folly in the heart; were England could shew,now A[kind. mine to satisfy the enormous cost.What England was, plain, hospitable, Draind to the last poor item of hisAnd undebauch'd. But we have bid wealth, [plish'd planfarewell He sighs, departs, and leaves the accom-To all the virtues of those better days, That he has touch'd, re-touchd, manyAnd all their honest pleasures. Man- a long day [dreams,sions once [rious hinds, Labour'd and many a night pursued inKnew their own masters, and labo- Just when it meets his hopes, andTfcat had survived the father, served proves the heaven the son. He wanted, for a wealthier to enjoy. And now, perhaps, the glorious hour isNow the legitimate and rightful lordIs but a transient guest, newly arrived. come, [to endearAnd soon to be supplanted He that When having no stake left, no pledgesaw Her interests, or that gives her sacredHis patrimonial timber cast its leaf, causeASells the last scantling, and transfers moment's operation on his love,the price [again. He burns with most intense and fra-To some shrewd sharper, ere it buds grant zeal [graceEstates are landscapes, gazed upon To serve his country. Ministerialawhile, [away. Deals him out money from the publicThen advertised, and auctioneer'd chest [purseThe country starves, and they that feed Or if that mine be shut, some privatethe o'ercharged [dues. Supplies his need with an usurious loan.And surfeited lewd town with her fair To be refunded duly, when his vote.By a just judgment strip and starve Well managed, shall have earned itsthemselves. [sight worthy price. [these.The wings that waft our riches out of Oh innocent, compared with arts likeGrow on the gamester's elbows, and Crape and cock'd pistol, and the whist-the alert [joints. hug ball [He that findsAnd nimble motion of those restless Seut through the traveller's temples!That never tire, soon fans them all One drop of Heaven's sweet mercy inaway. his cup, [tent.Improvement too, the idol of the age. Can dig, beg, rot, and perish, well con-Is fed with many a victim. Lol he So he may wrap himself in honest ragscomes. [appears. At his last gasp: but could not for aThe omnipotent magician, I3rown, worldDown falls the venerable pile, the Fish up his dirty and dependent breadabode [race. From pools and ditches of the com-Of our forefathers, a grave whisker'd monwealth, [cess.But tasteless. Springs a palace in its Sordid and sickening at his own suc-Btead, Ambition, avarice, penury incurr'd

— THE TASK. 51By endless riot, vanity, the lust Of flattering, loitering, cringing, beg-Of pleasure and variety, dispatch ging, loose [vas^As duly as the swallows disappear, And wanton vagrants, as make London,The world of wandering knights and And boundless as it is. a crowded coop.squires to town. [is there, Oh thou, resort and mart of all theLondon ingulfs them all. The shark earth. [kind,And the shark s prey; the spendthrift Chequer'd with all complexions of man- And spotted with all crimes; in whichand the leech [and heTliat sucks him. There the sycophant. I see [mire,Who, with bareheaded and obsequious Much that I love, and more that I ad-bows, [jail. And all that 1 abhor; thou freckledBegs a warm o£6ce. doom'd to a cold fair, [can laughAndgroat per diem, if his patron frown. That pleases and yet shocks me, IThe levee swarms, as if ingoldcupomp. And I can weep, can hope and can de-Were character'd on every statesman's spond, [thee!door. [UEXDED HERE.\" Feel wrath and pity, when I think on\" Batter'd and bankrupt fortunes Ten righteous would have saved a cityThese are the charms that sully and once,eclipse [gripe —And thou hast many righteous. WellThe charms of nature. 'Tis the cruel for theeThat lean hard-handed Poverty inflicts. That salt preserves thee; more cor-The hope of better things, the chance rupted el.'-e, [hour.to win, [amused, And therefore more obnoxious at thisThe vrish to shine, the thirst to be Than Sodom in her day had power toThat at the sound of Winter's hoary be.wing, [herds For whom God heard his AbrahamUnpeople all our cotmties, of such plead in vain. BOOK n^.—THE VvTSTER EVEXIXG. AEGUMEXT.— —The post comes in The newspaper is read The world contemplated at a dis- tance— Address to winter— The rural amusements of a winter evening com- , — —pared with the fashionable ones Address to evening A brown study — —Fall of snow in the evening The waggoner— A poor family piece The — —rural thief Public houses— The multitude of them censured The farmer's —daughter : what she was : what she is The simplicity of country manners — —almost lost Causes of the change Desertion of the country by the rich — —Neglect of magistrates The militia principally in fault The new recruit and his transformation— Reflection on bodies corporate The love of rural objects natural to all, and never to be totally extinguished.Hark! 'tis the twanging horn! O'er Cold and yet cheerful: messenger ofyonder bridge, [length grief [some,That with its wearisome but needful Perhaps to thousands, and of joy toBestrides the wintry flood, in which the To him indifferent whether gi-ief or joy.moon [bright. Houses in ashes, and the (all of stocks.Sees her nnwrinkled face reflected Births, deaths, and marriages, epistlesHe comes, the herald of a noisy world. wet [writers cheeksV\'ith spatter'd boots, strapp'd waist, With tears that trickled down theand frozen locks, [his back. Fast as the periods from his fluentXews from all nations lumbering at quill, [sent swains,True to his charge the close-pack'd Or charged with amorous sighs of ab-load behind, [concern Or nymphs responsive, equally affectYet careless what he brings, his one His horse and him, unconscious of iIs to conduct it to the destined inn, them all. [inAnd having dropp'd the expected | bag But oh the important budget! usher'd I—pass on. Wjih such heart-shaking music, whoHe whistles as he goes, light-hearted can sayI [awaked?wretch, 1 What are its tidings ! have our troops

; ;; ; ; ;32 COWPER'S POEMS.Or do they still, as with opium dragg'd, Sweet bashfulness! it claims, at least,Snore to the murmurs of the Atlantic this praise [sense,wave ? [plumed The dearth of information and good[s India free? and does she wear her That it foretells us, always comes toA.nd jewell'd turban with a smile of pass.peace, [debate. Cataracts of declamation thunder here.Or do we grind her still ? The grand There forests of no meaning spreadThe popula.r harangue, the tart reply, the page [lost;The logic, and the wisdom, and the In which all comprehension wanders—wit, [ihem all While fields of pleasantry amuse usA.nd the loud laugh I long to know there, [woes.t burn to set the imprison'd wranglers With merry descants on a nation'sfree, [once again. The rest appears a wilderness ofA.nd give them voice and utterance strange [cheeks Now stir the Are, and close the shut- But gay confusion; roses for theters fast, [round. And lilies for the brows of faded age,Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa Teeth for the toothless, ringlets for theAnd while the bubbling and loud hiss- bald, [their sweets.ing urn [cups Heaven, earth, and ocean plunder'd ofThrows up a steamy column, and the Nectareous essences, Olympian dews,That cheer but not Inebriate, wait on Sermons and city feasts, and favouriteeach, airs,So let us welcome peaceful evening in. .Ethereal journeys, submarine exploits,Not such his evening, who with shin- And Katerfelto, with his hair on ending face [squeezed At his own wonders, wondering for hisSweats in the crowded theatre, and bread. [of retreatAnd bored with elbow points through 'Tis pleasant through the loopholesboth his sides, [stage: To peep at such a world ; to see theOutscolds the ranting actor on the stir [crowd;Nor his, who patient stands till his Of the great Babel, and not feel thefeet throb, [breath To hear the roar she sends through allAnd his head thumps, to feed upon the her gates, [soundOf patriots, bursting with heroic rage, At a safe distance, where the djangOr placemen, all tranquillity and smiles. Falls a soft mm-mur on the uninjuredThis folio of four pages, happy work I ear. [easeWhich not even critics criticise; that Thus sitting, and surveying thus atholds The globe and its concerns, I seemInquisitive attention while I read. advanced [height.Fast bound in chains of silence, which To some secure and more than mortalthe fair, [to break That liberates and exempts me fromThough eloquent themselves, yet fear them all. [roundWhat is it but a map of busy life, myIt turns submitted to view, turnslis fluctuations, and its vast concerns? With all its generations! I behold [warHere runs the mountainous and craggj' The tumult, and am still. The sound ofridge, [uiit, see, Has lost its terrors ere it reaches meThat tempts ambition. On the sum- Grieves, but alarms me not. I mournThe seals of office glitter in his eyes; the pride [man.He climbs, he pants, he grasps them. And avarice that make man a wolf toAt his heels. Hear the faint echo of those brazenClose at his heels, a demagogue ascends, throats, [his heart,And with a dexterous jerk soon twists By which he speaks the language ofhim down, [turn. And sigh,but never tremble at thesound.And wins them, but to lose them in his Ho travels and expatiates, as the beeHere rills of oily eloquence in soft From flower to flower, so he from landMeanders lubricate the course they to land The manners, customs, policy of alltake [grieved Pay contribution to the store he gleans; Pie sucks intelligence in everv clime.The modest speaker is ashamed and And spreads the honey of his deep re-To engross a moment's notice, and yetbegs, [thoughts.Begs a propitious ear for his poor searchHowever trivial all that he conceives. At his return, a rich repast for me.

;; ; ;; ; ; THE TASK. 53He travels, and I too. I tread his deck, With most snccess when all besidesAscend his topmast, through his peer- decay.ing eyes [heart The poet's or historian's page, by oneDiscover countries, with a kindred Made vocal for the amusement of theSuffer his woes, and share in his rest [sweet soimds escapes The sprightly lyre, whose treasure of\"While fancy, like the finger of a clock, The touch from many a tremblingKuns the great circuit, and is still at chord shakes out [distinct, home. And the clear voice symphonious, yet O Winter ;' ruler of the inverted year,Thy scatter'd hair with sleet like ashes And in the charming strL'e triumphant still.flU'd, [cheeks Beguile the night, and sot a keener edgeThy breath congeal'd upon thy lips, thy On female iudusirj'; the threaded stoolFringed with a beard made white with Flies swiftly, and uufelt the task pro-other snows [in clouds, ceeds.Than those of age, thy forehead wrapp'd The volume closed, the customary ritesA leafless branch thy sceptre, and thy Of the last meal commence. A Koman throne meal, [foundA sliding car, indebted to no wheels, .Such as the mistress of the world onceBut urged by storms along its slippery Delicious, when her patriots of highwaj' note, [doors.I love thee, all unlovely as thou seem'st, Perhaps by moonlight, at their humbleAnd dreaded as thou art. Thouhold'st And under an old oak's domestic shade.the sun Enjoyed, spare feast! a radish and anA prisoner in the yet undawning east, egg.Shortening his journey between morn Discourse ensues.not trivial.yet not dull.and noon, Nor such as with a frown forbids theAnd hurrying him.impatient of his stay, play [mirthDown to the rosy west; but kindlj' still Of fancy, or proscribes the sound ofCompensatinghis loss with added hours Nor do we madly,like an impious world.WhoOf social converse and instructive ease, deem religion frenzy, and the GodAnd gathering, at short notice, in one That made them an intruder on theirgroup [thought, joys, [praiseThe family dispersed, and fixing Start at His awful name, or deem HisANot less dispersed by daylight and its jarring note. Themes of a gravercares. tone.I crown thee King of intimate delights, Exciting oft our gratitude and love.Fireside enjoj-ments, homeborn hap- While we retrace with memory's point-piness. ing wand,And aU the comforts that the lowly roof That calls the past to our exact review,Of undisturb'd retirement,and the hours The dangers we have 'scaped, theOf long uninterrupted evening know. broken snare, [foundNo rattling wheels stop short before The disappointed foe, deliverancethese gates Unlook'd for, life preserved and peaceNo powder'd pert proficient in the art restored,Of sounding an alarm, assaults these Fruits of omnipotent eternal love.doors [steeds Oh evenings worthy of the gods! ex-Till the street rings ; no stationary claimedCough their own knell, while, heedless The Sabine bard. Oh evenings, I reply,of the sound, [quake: More to be prized and coveted thanThe silent circle fan themselves, and yours, [truths.But here the needle plies its busy task, As more illumined, and with noblerThe pattern grows, the well-depicted That I and mine, and those we loveflower, enjoy.Wroughtpatientlyintothe snowy lawn, Is winter hideous in a garb like this?Unfolds its bosom: buds, and leaves, Needs he the tragic fur, the smoke ofand sprigs, [posed, lamps, [throng,And curling tendrils, gracefully dis- The pent-up breath of an unsavouryFoIIow the nimble finger of the fair To thaw him into feeling, or the smartA wreath that cannot fade, of flowers And snappish dialogue that flippantthat blow wits

;; CC^TPEE'S POEMS.Call comedy, to prompt him with a With colours mixed for a far different smUe? use.The self-complacent actor, when he Paint cards and dolls, and every Idleviews [house) thing [fl'ights.(Stealing a sidelong glance at a full That fancy finds in her excursiveThe slope of faces from the floor to Come, Evening, once again, seasonthe roof, [them all.) of peace. [long!(As if one master spring controll'd Eetum, sweet Evenini;, and continueKelax'd into a universal grin, Methinks I see thee in the streaky west. With matron step slow moving, whileSees not a countenance there thatspeaks of joy the night [employ'dHalf so reflned or so sincere as ours. Treads on thy sweeping train; one handCards were superfluous here, with all In letting fall the curtain of reposethe tricks On bird and beast, the other chargedThat idleness has ever yet contrived for man [dayTo fill the void of an unfurnished brain, With sweet oblivion of the cares ofTo palliate dulness, and give time a Not sumptuously adorned, nor needingshove. [wing. aid, [ing gemsTime as he passes ns, has a dove\"s Like homely-featured night, of cluster-Unsoil'd and swift, and of a silken A star or two just twinkling on thy browsound; [qaerade. SiifBces thee; save that the moon isBut the world's time is time in mas- thine [highTheirs, should I paint him, has his No less than hers, not worn indeed onpinions fledged [peacock shews With ostentatious pageantry, but set\"With motley plumes, and where the With modest grandeur in thy purpleHis azure eyes, is tinctured black and zone, [round. red [form. Eesplendent less, but of an amplerWith spots quadrangular of diamond Come then, and thou shalt find thyEnsanguined hearts, clubs typical of votary calm.strife, [graves. Or make me so. Composure is thy gift: And whetuer I devote thy gentle hoursAnd spades, the emblem of untimely To books, to music, or the poet's toil;\"What should be, and what was an To weaving nets for bird-alluring fruithourglass once, [maceBecomes 'a dice-box, and a billiard Or twining silken threads round ivoryWell does the work of his destructive reels, [born to please ;scythe. [fashion blinds When they command whom man wasThus deek'd, he charms a world whom I slight thee not, but make thee welcomeTo his true worth, most pleased when still. [to blazeidle most. [hours. Just when our drawing-rooms beginWho-;e only happy are their wasted With lights, by clear reflection multi-Even misses, at whose age their plied [Glath,mothers wore [the dress From many a mirror, in which he ofThe backstring and the bib, assume Goliath, might have seen his giant bulk Whole without stooping, towering crestOf womanhood, fit pupils In the schoolOf card-devoted time, and night by and all, [hapsnight [board, My pleasures too begin. But me per-Placed at some vacant comer of the The glowing hearth may satisfy awhileLeara every trick, and soon play all the With faint illumination, that upliftsgame. [rove. The shadows to the ceiling, there by fitsBut truce with censure. Eoving as I Dancing uncouthly to the quiveringWhere shall I find an end, or how pro- flame. ceed ? Notundelightful is an hour to meAs he that travels far, oft turns aside So spent in parlour twilight: such aTo view some rugged rook or moulder- gloom [mind,ing tower, [coming home, Suits well the thoughtful or unthinking The mind contemplative with someWhich seen, delights him not; then new themeDescribes and prints it that the worldmay know [worth Pregnant, or indisposed alike to all.How far he went for what was nothing Laugh ye, who boast your moid mer-So I, with brush in hand and paUet curial powers, [pause,spread, That never feel a stupor, know no

;! ! ;Nor neecl one: I am conscious, and Descending, and, with never ceasingconfess, [think. lapse.Fearless, a soul that does not alvrays Softly alighting upon all below.Me oft has fancy, ludicrous and wild. Assimilate all objects. Earth receivesSoothed with \"a walling dream of Gladly the thickening mantle, and thehouses, towers, [express'd green [ing blast,'Trees, churches, and strange visages And tender blade that fear'd the chill-In the red cinders, while with poring Escapes unhurt beneath so warm aeye veil. [where noneI gazed, myself creating what I saw. In such a world, so thorny, andNor less amused have I quiescent Finds happiness unblighted, or. ifwatch'd found, [side,The sooty films that play upon the bars Without some thistly soirow at hisPendulous, and foreboding, in the view It seems the part of wisdom, and no sinOf superstition, prophesying still. Against the law of love, to measure lotaThough still deceived, some stranger's With less distinguish'd than ourselves,near approach. [pose that thus [ate ills.'Tis thus the understanding takes re- We may with patience bear ourmoder-in indolent vacuity of thought, And sympathise with others, sufferingAnd sleeps and is refresh'd. Mean- more. [stalkswhile the face [mask 111 fares the traveler now, and he thatConceals the mood lethargic with a In ponderous boots beside Ms reekingOf deep deliberation, as the man team.Were task'd to his full strength, The wain goes heavily, impeded soreabsorb'd and lost. B}' congregated loads adhering closeThus oft, reclined at ease, I lose an To the clogg'd wheels; and in itshour [blast. sluggish pace [snow.At evening, till at length the freezing Noiseless appears a moving hill ofThat sweeps the bolted shutter, sum- The toiling steeds expand the nostrilmons home [short wide, [strongThe recollected powers, and snapping While even,- breath, by respirationThe glassy threads with which the Forced do^vnward, is consolidated soonfancy weaves Upon their jutting chests. He, form'dmeHer brittle toils, restores to myself. to bear [night.How calm is my i-eccss, and how the The pelting brunt of the tempestuousfrost, [endear With half-shut eyes and pucker'dEaging abroad, and the rough wind. cheeks, and teeth [plods on.The silence and the warmth enjoy 'd Presented bare against the storm,within [day One hand secures his hat, save whenI saw the woods and fields at close of with both [whip.A variegated show; the meadows He brandishes his pliant length ofgreen, [lately waved Eesounding oft, and never heard inThough faded; and the lands, where vain.The golden harvest of a mellow brown, Oh happy ! and in my account, deniedUpturn'd so lately by the forceful The seusibUity of pain with whichshare Keflnement is endued, thrice happyI saw far off the weedy fallows smile thou. [indeedWith verdure not unprofitable, grazed Thy frame, robust and hardy, feelsBy flocks, fast feeding, and selecting The piercing cold, but feels it imim-each [less groves, pair'd.His favourite herb ; while all the leaf- The learned finger never need exploreThat skirt the horizon, wore a sable hue. Thy vigorous pulse ; and the unhealth-Scarce noticed in the kindred dusk of ful east, [every bonoeve. [change That breathes the spleen, and searchesTo-morrow brings a change, a total Of the infirm, is wholesome air to thee.Which oven now, though silently per- Thy days roll on exempt from house-form'd [face hold \"care [poor be.ists.And slowly, and by most unfelt, the Thy waggon is thy wife; and theOf universal nature undergoes. That drag the dull companion to andFast falls a fleecy shower : the downy fro, [ thy care.flakes Thine helpless charge, dependent on

;56 COWPER'S POEMS.Ah, treat them kindly! rude as thou Of knaves in ofBce, partial in the workappear'st, [the great Of distribution ; liberal of their aid To clamorous importunity in rags.Yet shew that thou hast mercy, -^hichWith needless hurry whirl'd from But ofttimes deaf to suppliants whoplace to place, [ways shew. would blushHumane as they would seem, not al- To wear a tatter'd garb however coarse.Poor, yet industrious, modest, quiet, Whom famine cannot reconcile to filth;neat, [this, These ask with painful shyness, andSuch claim compassion in a night like refusedAnd have a friend in every feeling Because deserving, silently retire.heart. [day long But be ye of good courage. Time itself Shall much befriend you. Time shallWomi'd while it lasts, by labour, allThey brave the season, and yet find at give increase, [traiu'd.eve, And aU your numerous progeny wellni clad and fed but sparely, time to cool. But helpless, in few years shall find thei rThe frugal housewife trembles when \" hands, [wantshe lights [clear, And labour too. Meanwhile ye shall notHer scanty stock of brushwood, blazing What, conscious of your virtues, weBut dying soon, Ukeall terrestrial joys. can spare, [may send.The few small embers left she nurses Xor what a wealthier than ourselveswell, [spread hands, I mean the man who, when the distantAnd while her infant race, with out- poor [name.And crowded knees, sit cowering o'er Need help, denies them nothing but histhe sparks, [warm'd. But poverty, with most who whimperEetires, content to quake, so they be forth [woe;The man feels least, as more inured Their long complaints, is self-inflictedthan she The effect of laziness or sottish waste.To winter, and the current in his veins Xow goes the nightly thief prowlingMore briskly moved by severer toilYet he too finds his own distress in abroadtheirs. [saw For plunder; much solicitous how best He may compensate for a day of sloth,The taper soon extinguished, which I By works of darkness and nocturnalEangled along at the cold fingers end wrong. [hedgeJust when the day declined, and the Woe to the gardener's pale, the farmersbrown loaf [sauce Plash'd neatly, and secured with drivenLodged on the shelf, half eaten without stakes [strength.Of savoury cheese, or butter costlier Deep in the loamy bank. Lptorn bystm. Resistless in so bad a cause, but lameSleep seems their only refuge : for, alas! To better deeds, he bundles up the spoil.\"Where penury is felt the thought is An ass's burden, and, when laden most And heaviest, light of foot steals fastchain'd, [few.And sweet coUoqnial pleasures are but away. [guardWith all this thrift they thrive not. Nor does the boarded hovel betterAll the care, The well stack'd pile of ri\ en logs and , 'Ingenious parsimony takes, but just roots [leave I ISaves the small inventory, bed and From his pernicious force. Nor will hestool, [lie sale. Unwrench'd the door, however wellSkillet and old carved chest, from pub- secured, [sleepsThey Hve, and live without estoried Where chanticleer amidst his haremalms [have none In unsuspecting pomp. Twitch'd fromFrom grudging hands, but other boast the perch, [wives.To soothe their honest pride, that scorns He gives the princely bird, with all histo beg; [love. To his voracious bag, struggling in vain. And loudly %yonderiug at the suddenNor comfort else, but in their mutualI praise you much, ye meek and patient change. [some excusepair, Xor this to feed his own. 'TwereFor ye are worthy; choosing rather far Did pitj- of their sufferings warp asideA dry but independent crust, hard His principle, and tempt him into sin earn'd. For their support, so destitute. ButAnd eaten with a sigh, than to endure they [as moreThe rugged frowns and insolent rebuffs Neglected pine at home, themselves,

; THE TASK. 57Exposed than others, with less scniple But censure profits little : vain themade [all. attemptHis victims, robb'd of their defenceless To advertise in verse a public pest,Cruel is all he does. 'Tis quenchless That, like the Qlth with which the pea-Of ruinous ebriety that prompts [thirst sant feedsHis everj' action, and imbrutes the man. His hungry acres, stinks, and is of use.Oh for a law to noose the villain's neck The excise is fatten'd with the richWho starves his own ; who persecutes result [casks,the blood [and hates Of all this not; and ten thousandHe gave Ihem in his children's veins, For ever dribbling out their base con-And wrongs the woman he has sworn tents, [state,to love. flhrough town, Touch'd by the Midas' finger of thePass where we may, through city or Bleed gold for ministers to sport awaj'.'^''iUage or hamlet, of this merry land, Drink and be mad then ; 'tis yourThough lean and beggar'd, every country bids; [call;twentieth pace [whiff Gloriously drunk, obey the importantConducts the unguarded nose to such a Her cause demands the assistance ofOf stale debauch, forth issuing from the your throats ; [more.styes [ance reel. Ye all can swallow, and she asks noThat law has licensed, as makes temper- Would I had fall'nupon those happierThere sit, involved and lost iu curling days [timesclouds [boor, That poets celebrate; those goldenOf Indian fume, and guzzling deep, the And those Arcadian scenes that MaroThe lackey, and the groom ; the crafts- sings,man there And Sidney, warbler of poetic prose.Takes a Lethean leave of all his toil; Xymphs were Dianas then, and swainsSmith, cobbler, joiner, he that plies the had hearts [seems,shears, [alike, That felt their virtues: Innocence, itAnd he that kneads the dough; all loud From courts dismiss'd, foimd shelterAll learned, and all drimk. The fiddle in the groves.screams [wail'd The footsteps of Simplicity, Impress'dPlaintive and piteous, as it wept and Upon the yielding herbage (so theyIts wasted tones and harmony unheard. sing) [profane.Fierce the dispute, whate'er the theme Then -were not all effaced: then speechwhile she. And manners profligate were rarelyFell Discord, arbitress of such debate, found, [claim'd.Perch'd on the sign-post, holds with Observed as prodigies, and soon re-even hand Vain wish! those days were never:Her undecisive scales. In this she lays airy dreamsA weight of ignorance, in that of pride; Sat for the picture, and the poet's hand,And smiles delighted with the eternal Imparting sul)stance to an empty shade,poise. [sound Imposed a gay delirium for a truth.Dire is the frequent curse, and its twin Grant it: I still must envy them anThe cheek distending oath, not to be age [like the.<epraised That f.avour'd such a dream, in daysAs ornamental, musical, polite. Impossible when virtue is so scarce,Like those which modern senators em- That to suppose a scene where sheploy, [for fame. presidesWhose oath is rhetoric, and who swear Is tramontane, and stumbles all behef.Behold the schools in which plebeian Xo: we are polish'd now. The ruralminds. lass, [grace.Once simple, are initiated in arts Whom once her virgin modesty andWhich some may practise with politer Her artless manner, and her neat attire,grace, [they learn So dignified, that she was hardly lessBut none with readier skill! 'Tis here Than the fair shepherdess of oldThe road that leads from competence romance, [lost.and peace Is seen no more. The character isTo indigence and rapine ; till at last Her head, adorn'd with lappets pinn'dSociety, grown weary of the load, aloft, [raised.Shakes her encumbered lap, and casts And ribands streaming gay, superblythem out. And magnified beyond all human size,

;; ; ;6S COWPEE'S POEMS,Indebted to some smart wig-weaver's Taints downward all the graduatedhand [tains scale [plough.For more than half the tresses it sus- Of order, from the chariot to theHer elbows ruffled, and her tottering The rich, and they that have an arm tomform [might be deem'd checkpropp'd upon French heels; she The license of the lowest in degree,(But that the basket dangling on her Desert their office ; and themselves, in-arm tent [thusInterprets her more truly) of a rank On pleasure, haunt the capital, andToo proud for dairy work or sale of To all the violence of lawless handseggs. [heels, Eesign the scenes their presence mightExpect her soon with foothoy at her protect.No longer blushing for her awkward Authority herself net seldom sleeps.load, Though resident, and witness of theHer train and her umbrella all her care. wrong.The town has tinged the cotmtry; T'ne plump convivial parson often bearsand the stain The magisterial sword in vain, and laysAppears a spot upon a vestal's robe, His reverence and his worship both toThe worse for what it soils. The restfashion runs On the same cushion of habitual sloth.Down into scenes still rural ; but, alas! Perhaps timidity restrains his armScenes rarely graced with rural man- When he should strike, he tremblesners now. and sets free,Time was when in the pastoral retreat Himself enslaved by terror of the band.The unguarded door was safe: men did The audacious convict, whom he daresnot watch [their own. not bind. [pure,To invade another's right, or guard Perhaps, though by profession ghostlyThen sleep was undisturb'd by fear, He too may have his vice, and some-unscared [ tale times prove [outsideBy drunken bowlings ; and the chilling Less dainty than becomes his graveOf midnight murder was a wonder In lucrative concerns. Examine wellheard [babes. His milk-white hand ; the palm is—With doubtful credit told to frighten hardly clean, [appears.But farewell now to unsuspicious But here and there an ugly smutchnights, [you sleep, Fob I 'twas a bribe that left it: he hasAnd slumbers unalarm'd. Now, ere touch'dSee that your polish d arms be primed Corruption. Whoso seeks an audit herewith care, [abroad Propitious, pays his tribute, game orAnd drop the nightbolt: rufiians are fish, [speeds.And the first 'larum of the cocks shrill Wildfowl or venison, and his errandthroat [ear But faster far, and more than all theMay prove a trumpet, summoning your rest, [sparkTo horrid sounds of hostile feet within A noble cause, which none who bears aEven daylight has its dangers ; and the Of public virtue ever wish'd removed,walk [unconscious once Works the deplored and mischievousThrough pathless wastes and woods, effect.Of other tenants than melodious birds. 'Tis universal soldiership has stabb'dOr harmless flocks, is hazardous and The heart of merit in the meaner class.bold. [a cause Arms, through the vanity and brainlessLamented change! to which full many rage [cause,Inveterate, hopeless of a cure, con- Of those that bear them, in whateverspires, [good to ill, Seem most at variance with all moralThe course of human things from good.From ill to worse, is fatal, never fails. And incompatible with serious thought.Increase of power begets increase of The clown, the child of nature, with-wealth; out guile,\"Wealth luxury, and luxury excess; Blest with an infant's ignorance of allExcess, the scrofulous and itchy plague But his own simple pleasures, now andThat seizes first the opulent, descends thenATo the next rank contagious, and in wrestlLng-match, afoot-race,or afair,time Is balloted, and trembles at the news

; ;;; ; THE TASK. 69Sheepish he doffs his hat, and mum- Hence charter'd boroughs are suchbliug swears public plagues [hapsA bible-oath to be whate'erthey please, And burgher.s. men immaculate per-To do he Ijnows not what. The task In all their private functions, oncaperform'd, [care. combined.That instant he becomes the Serjeant's Become a loathsome body, only fitHis pupil, and his torment, and his jest. For dissolution, hurtful to the main.His awkward gait, his introverted toes, Hence merchants, unimpeachable ofBent knees, round shoulders, and de- sinjected looks, [degrees. Against the charities of domestic life,Procure him many a curse. By slow Incorporated, seem at once to loseUuapt to learn, and forni'dof stubborn Their nature, and, disclaiming all re-stuff, [self. gard [man.He yet, by slow degrees puts off him- For mercy and the common rights ofGrows conscious of a change, and likes Build factories with blood, conductingit well. [walk; trade [white robeHe stands erect; his slouch becomes a At the sword's point and dyeing theHe steps right onward, martial in his Of innocent, commercial justice red. air, [above Hence too the field of glory, as theHis form, and movement ; is as smart worldAs meal and larded locks can make Misdeems it, dazzled by its brighthim ; wears [grace array, [pomp.His hat, or his plumed helmet, with a With all its majesty of thunderingAnd his three years of heroship ex- Enchanting music and immortalpired, [plough. wreaths, [is taughtEetums indignant to the slighted Is but a school where thoughtlessnessHe hates the field in which no fife or On principle, where foppery atonesdrum [march, For folly, gallantry for every vice.Attends him, drives his cattle to a But slighted as it is. and by the greatAnd sighs for the smart comrades he Abandoned, and, which still I morehas left. [all— regret, [modes'Twere well if his exterior change were Infected with the manners and theBut -with his clumsy port the wretch It knew not once, the country wins mehas lost [too. stOl.His ignorance and harmless manners I never fram'd a wish or form'd a plan.To swear, to game, to drink, to shew That fiatter'd me with hopes of earthlyat home, [breach, bli.^s, [stray'dBy lewdness, idleness, and Sabbath But there I laid the scene. There earlyThe great proficiency he made abroad My fancy, ere yet liberty of choiceTo astonish and to grieve his gazing Hadfound me.orthehopeof beingfree.friends My very dreams were rural, rural tooTo break some maiden's and his mo- myThe firstborn efforts of youthfulther's heart; muse,To be a pest where he was useful once .Sportive, and jingling her poetic bellsAre his sole aim, and all his glory now. Ere yet her ear was mistress of theirMan in society is like a flower powers. [lyre was tunedBlown in its native bed : 'tis there alone Xo bard could please me but whoseHis faculties, expanded in full bloom. To Nature's praises. Heroes and theirShine out ; there only reach their pro- featsper use. [man Fatigued me, never weary of the pipeBut man. associated and leagued with Of Tityrus, assembling as he sang,By regal warrant, or self-joined by The rustic throng beneath his favouritebond [clans beech.For interest sake, or swarming into Then Miltonhad indeed a poet's charms:Beneath one head, for purposes of war. New to my taste, his Paradise surpass'dLike flowers selected from the rest and The struggling efforts of my boyishbotmd Lvase, tongue [joy.And bimdled close to fill some crowded To speak its excellence; I danced forFades rapidly, and by compression I marvell'd much that, at so ripe an agemarr'd. As twice seven years, his beauties hadContracts defilement not to be endured. then first

;;60 COWPER'S POEMS.Engaged my wonr1er,and admiring still, He cultivates. These serve him withAnd still admiring, with regret sup- a hint [greenposed [found. That nature lives; that sight-refreshingThe joy half lost because not sooner Is still the livery she delights to wear,Thee too enamour'dof the life I loved, Though sickly samples of the exuber-Pathetic in its praise, in its pursuit ant whole. [creeping herbs,Determined, and possessing it at last What are the casements lined withWith transports such as favouT'd lovers The prouder sashes fronted with afeel, [known, rangeI studied, prized, and wish'd that I had Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed,Ingenious Cowley! and though now, The Frenchman's darling? are theyreclaim'd [taste. not all proofsBy modern lights from an erroneous That matuimmured in cities,still retainsI cannot but lament thy splendid wit His inborn inextinguishable thirstEntangled in the cobwebs of the schools,I still revere thee, courtly though Of rural scenes, compensating his loss Bj- supplemental shifts, thebest he may? retired. The most unfurnish'd with the meansThough stretch'd at ease in Chertsey's of life, [wall boundssilent bowers. And they that never pass their brick-Not unemployed, and finding rich To range the fields and treat their lungsamends with air,For a lost world in solitude and verse. Yet feel the burning instinct; overhead•Tis born with all : the love of Nature's Suspend their crazy boxes, plantedworks thick, [standsIs an ingredient in the compound, man, And water'd duly. There the pitcherInfused at the creation of the kind. A fragment, and the spoutless teapotAnd though the Almighty Maker has there [gretsthroughout [strokes Sad witnesses how close-pent man re-Discriminated each from each, by The counti-y, with what ardour heAnd touches of his hand, with so much contrives [more. art A peep at nature, when he can noDiversified, that two were never found Hail, therefore, patroness of healthTwins at all points—yet this obtains in and ease all, And contemplation, heart-consolingThat all discern a beauty in His works, joys [aboiieAnd all can taste them: minds that And harmless pleasures.in the throng'd have been formed Of multitudes unknown! hail, ruralAnd tutor'd with a relish more exact,But none without some reUsh, none life! unmoved. Address himself who w^ll to the pursuit Of honours, or emolument, or fame,It is a flame that dies not even there, I shall not add myself to such a chase,Where nothing feeds it; neither busi- Thwart his attempts, or envy his suc- ness, crowds. cess, [win haveNor habits of luxurious city life. Some must be great. Great ofBcesWhatever else they smother of true Great talents : and God gives to evei7 worth man [taste,In human bosoms, quench it or abate. The virtue, temper, understanding.The villas with which London stands That Uf ts him into life, and lets him fallbegirt, [beads, Just in the niche he was ordain'd to fill.Like a swarth Indian with his belt of To the deliverer of an injured landAProve it. breath of unadulterate air, He gives a tongue to enlarge upon, anThe glimpse of a green pasture, how heart [wrongsthey cheer To feel, and courage to redress herThe citizen.and brace his languid frame! To monarchs dignity; to judges sense;Even in the stifling bosom of the town, To artists ingenuity and skill;A garden, in which nothing thrives. To me an unambitious mind, contenthas charms. [consoled In the low vale of life, that early feltAThat soothe the rich possessor; much wish for ease and leism-e, and ereThat here and there some sprigs of longmournful mint, [well Found here that leisure and that easeOf nightshade, or valerian, grace the 1 wish'tl.

; THE TASK. —BOOK \'. THE WINTER MORNING WALK. AEGUMENT.— — —A frosty morning The foddering of cattle The woodman and his dog The —poultry— Whimsical effects of frost at a waterfall The Empress of liussia'u — —palace of ice Amusements of monarchs War. one of them— Wars, —whence And whence monarchy— The evils of it— English and French — —loj-alty contrasted The Bastille, and a prisoner there Liberty the chief recommendation of this country— Modern patriotism questionable, and —why— The perishable nature of the best human institutions Spiritual — —liberty not perishable The slavish state of man by nature Deliver him, — —Deist, if you can Grace must do it^ The respective merits of patriots and — —martyrs stated Their different treatment Happy freedom of the man —whom Grace makes free His relish of the works of God—Address to the Creator.'Tis morning ; and the suu with ruddy And patient of the slow-paced swain's orb [clouds delay. [tom'd load.Ascending fires the horizon: while the He from the stack carves out the accus-That crowd away before the driving Deep plunging, and again deep plung- wind. ing oft, [massMore ardent as the disk emerges more, His broad lieen knife into the solidResemble most some city in a blaze. Smooth as a wall the upright remnantSeen through the leafless wood. His stands, slanting ray With such nndeviating and even force He severs it away: no needless careSlides ineffectual down the snowy vale.And tinging all with his own rosy hue. Lest storms should overset the leaningFrom every herb and every spiry blade pile [weight.Stretches a length of shadow o'er the Deciduous, or its own unbalancedfield. Forth goes the woodman, leaving un-Mine, spindling into longitude immense, couceru'd [the axeIn spite of gravity, and sage remark The cheerful haunts of man, to wield And drive the wedge iu yonder forestThat I myself am but a fleeting shade,Provokes me to a smile. With eye drear. askance From morn to eve his solitary task.I view the muscular proportion'd limb Shaggy, and lean, and shrewd, withTrausform'd to a lean shank. The pointed ears [and half cur,shapeless pair, [side And tail cropp'd short, half lurcherAs they design'd to mode me, at my His dog attends him. Close behindTake step for step ; and as I near his heel [many a friskapproach [wall. Now creeps he slow; and now withThe cottage, walk along the plaster'd Wide scampering snatches up thePreposterous sight ! the legs without drifted snow [his snout;the man. [deep With ivory teeth, or ploughs it withThe verdure of the plain lies buried Then shakes his powder'd coat, andBeneath the dazzling deluge ; and the barks for joy. [churlbents, [rest, Heedless of his pranks, the sturdyAnd coarser grass upspearing o\"er the Moves right towards the mark ; norOf late unsightly and unseen, now shine stops for aught, [his thumbConspicuous, and in bright apparel clad. But now and then with pressure ofAnd fledged with icy feathers, nod To adjust the fragrant charge of a superb. short tube [trailing cloudThe cattle mourn iu corners where That fumes beneath his nose: the the fence Streams far behind him, scenting allScreens them, and seem half-petrified the air.to sleep [wait Now from the roost, or from the neigh-In unrecumbent sadness. There they bouring pale.Their wonted fodder, not like hunger- Where, diligent to catch the first fainting man gleam [side,Fretful if unsupplied, but Bilent, meek, Of smiling day, thsy goBsip'd side by

;; !62 CO^\nPEES POEMS.Come trooping at the housewife's The mill-dam, dashes on the restlesswell-known call wheel.The feather'd tribes domestic. Half And wantons in the pebbly gulf below:on wing, [flood. Xo frost can bind it there ; its utmostAnd half on foot, they brush the fleecy force [mistConscious, and fearful of too deep a Can but arrest the light and smokyplunge. [tering eaves That in its fall the liquid sheet throwsThe sparrows peep, and quit the shel- wide. [broider'd banksTo seize the fair occasion. \"Well they And see where it has hung the em-eye [solved With forms so various, that no powersThe ECitter'd grain, and thievishly re- of art, [sceneTo escape the impending famine, often The pencil or the pen, may trace thescared Here glittering tiu-rets rise, upbearingAs oft return, a pert voracious kind. high [roofClean riddance quickly made, one only (Fantastic misarrangement !) on thecare [nook, Large growth of what may seem theEemains to each, the search of sunny sparkhng trees [dropsOr shed impervious to the blast. Ee- And shrubs of fairyland. The crystalsigu'd That trickle down the branches, fastTo sad necessity, the cock foregoes congeal'd.His wonted strut, and wading at their Shoot into pillars of pellucid length.head [resent And prop the pOe they but adorn'dWith well-consider'd steps, seems to before.His aUer'd gait and stateliness re- Here grotto within grotto safe defiestrenoh'd. [cheer The sunbeam: there emboss'd andHow find the myriads, that in summer fretted wild, [shapesThe hills and valleys with their cease- The growing wonder takes a thousandless songs, [now? Capricious, iu which fancy seeks in vainDue sustenance, or where subsist they The likeness of some object seen before.Earth yields them nought : the impri- Thus nature works as if to mock at art,son'd worm is safe [herbs And in defiance of her rival powersBeneath the frozen clod ; all seeds of By these fortuitous and random strokesLie cover'd close, and berry-bearing Performing such inimitable feats,thorns [suppose,) As she with all her rules can neverThat feed the thrush (whatever some reach. [admired.Afford the smaller minstrels no supply. Less worthy of applause, though moreThe long protracted rigour of the year Because a novelty, the work of man.Thins all their numerous flocks. In Imperial mistress of the fur-clad Euss!chinks and holes Thy mosi magniflcent and mightyTen thousand seek an unmolested end, freak, [fellAs instinct prompts, self-buried ere The wonder of the north. No forest [fields. When thou wouldst buUd ; no quarrythey die.The very rooks and daws forsake the sent its stores [hew the floods.Where neither grub nor root nor earth- To enrich thy walls; but thou didstnut now [aloft And make thy marble of the glassyEepays their labour more ; and perch'd wave.I By the way- side, or stalking in the In such a palace Aristseus foundpath, [track, Cyrene, when he bore the plaintive taleLean pensioners upon the traveller's Of his lost bees to her maternal ear:Pick up their nauseous dole, though In such a palace poetry might placesweet to them, The armoury of winter; where hisOf voided pulse or half-digested grain. troops, [arrowy sleet.The streams are lost amid the splendid The gloomy clouds, find weapons,blank. [flood, Skiu-piercing volley, blossom-bniisingO'erwhelming all distinction. On the hail, [ler s course,Indurated and flx'd, the snowy weight And snow that often blinds the travel-Lies undissolved; while silently be- And wraps him in an unexpected tomb.neath, [away. Silently as a dream the fabric roseAnd unperceived, the current steals No sound of hammer or of saw wasNot so, where scornful of a check it there.leaps Ice upon ice, the well-adjusted parts

;; THE TASK. 63Were soon conjoin'd, nor other cement Of heroes, whose iiSrm and babyask'd [one. minds [spoil,Than water interfused to make them Are gratified with mischief, and whoLamps gracefully disposed, and of all Because men suffer it, their toy thehues, world. [the greatIllumined every side ; a watery light \"When Babel was confounded, andGleam'd through the clear transpar- Confederacy of projectors wild andenc3', that seem'd [fallen vainAnother moon new risen, or meteor Was split into diversity of tongues.From heaven to earth, of lambent Then, as a shepherd separates his flock,flame serene. [smooth These to the upland, to the valleySo stood the brittle prodigy; though those, PotAnd slippery the materials, yet frost- God drave asunder, and assign'd theirbound [within, To all the nations. Ample was theFirm as a rock. Kor wanted aught boonThat royal residence might well befit, He gave them, in its distribution fairFor grandeur or for use. Long wavy And equal, and He bade them dwell inwreaths [warmth. peace. [plough'd and sow'd.Of flowers, that fear'd no enemy but Peace was awhile their care: they And reap'd their plenty without grudgeBlush'd on the panels. Mirror needednone [due or strife.\"Where all was vitreous ; but in order But violence can never longer sleepConvivial table and commodious seat Than human passions please. In every(What seem'd at least commodious heart [war;seat) were there, [august. Are sown the sparks that kindle flerySofa and couch and high-built throne Occasion needs but fan them, and theyThe same lubricity was found in all. blaze. [bloodAnd all was moist to the warm touch Cain had already shed a brother'sa scene The deluge wash'd it out ; but left un-Of evanescent glory, once a stream. quench'd [man.And soon to slide into a stream again. The seeds of murder in the breast ofAlas ! 'twas but a mortifying stroke Soon, by a righteous judgment, in theOf undesign'd severity, that glanced line(Made by a monarch) on her own estate,On human grandeur and the courts of Of his descending progeny was foundkings. The first artitlcer of death ; the shrewd Contriver who first sweated at the'Twas transient in its nature, as in show forge, [bloodied steel'Twas durable ; as worthless, as it And forced the blunt and yet un-Beem'd To a keen edge, and made it bright forIntrinsically precious ; to the foot war. [times.Treacherous and false it smiled, and Him, Tubal named, the \"Tulcan of old ;it was cold. [Some have play'd The sword and falchion their inventorGreat princes have great playthings. claim, [derer's son.At hewing mountains into men, and And the first smith was the first mur-some [high. His art survived the waters; and ereAt building human wonders mountain long, [abroadSome have amused the dull sad years When man was multiplied and spreadof life, [sad. In tribes and clans, and had begun toLife spent in indolence, and therefore call [his own,\"With schemes of monumental fame; These meadows and that range of hillsand sought The tasted sweets of property begat Desire of more ; and industry in someBy pjramids and mausolean pomp, To improve and cultivate th£ir justShort-lived themselves, to immortalise their bones. demesne. Made others covet what they saw so fair.Some seek diversion in the tented field.And make the sorrows of mankind Thus war began on earth : thesetheir sport. [subjects wise. fought for spoil, [firstBut war's a game, which, were their And those in self-defence. Savage atKings would not play at. Nations The onset, and irregular. At lengthwould do well [pnny hands One eminent above the rest, forTo extort their truncheons from the strength.

!64 COWPEK'S POEMS.For stratagein, or courage, or for all, Becomes the soul that animates them\"Was chosen leader ; him they served all. [lives,in war, [deeds lie deems a thousand, or ten thousandAnd him in peace, for sake of warlike Spent in the purchase of renown forKeverenced no less. Who could with him, [same. him compare ? An easy reckoning, and they think theOr who so worthy to control themsslvesAs he whose prowess had subdued Thus kings were first invented, and thus kingstheir foes ? Were burnish'd in to heroes.and becameThus war affording field for the display The arbiters of this terraqueous swamp.Of virtue, made one chief, whom times Storks among frogs, that have butof peace, [call croak'd and died. [manWhich have their exigencies too, and Strange that such folly as lifts bloatedFor skill in government, at length To eminence fit only for a god, Should ever drivel out of human lips.made king. [to wearKing was a name too proud for man Even in the cradled weakness of theWith modesty and meekness; and the world! [mankind crown, Still stranger much, than when at lengthSo dazzling in their eyes who set it on. Had reached the sinewy firmness ofWas sure to intoxicate the hrows it their youth,bound. And could discriminate and argue wellIt is the abject property of most. On subjects more mysterious, they wereThat being parcel of the common mass, yet [should fearAnd destitute of means to raise them- Babes in the cause of freedom, andselves, [need. And quake before the gods themselvesThey sink and settle lower than they had made. [proofThey know not what it is to feel withinA comprehensive faculty that grasps But above measure strange, that neitherGreat purposes with ease, that turns Of sad experience, nor examples set By some whose patriot vii'tue has pre-and wields, vail'd, [matureAlmost without an effort, plans too vast Can even now, when they are grownFor their conception, which tbey can- In wisdom, and with philosophic deepsnot move. [grow drunk Familiar, serve to emancipate the restCon.scious of impotence they soon Such dupes are men to custom, and soWith gazing, when they see an able prone [pleadman [thus. To reverence what is ancient, and canStep forth to notice; and besotted A course of long observance for its use.Euild him a pedestal, and say, \" Stand That even servitude, the worst of ills. there, Because deliver'd down from sire to sou,And bo ouradmiration and our praise.\" Is kept and guarded as a sacred thing.They roll themselves before him in the But is it fit, or can it bear the shockdust, [count Of rational discussion, that a man. Compounded and made up like otherThen most deserving in their own ac-When most extravagant in his applause, men Of elements tumultuous, in whom lustAs if exalting him they raised them- And folly in as ample measure meet As in the bosoms of the slaves he rules.selves, [sound Should be a despot absolute, and boastThus by degrees, self-cheated of theirAnd sober judgment, that he is but man, Himself the only freeman of his land?They demi-deify and fume him so,That in due season he forfrets it too. Should, when he pleases, and on whomInflated and astrut with self-conceit,He gulps the windy diet, and ere long. he will, Wage war.with any or with no pretence Of provocation given or wrong sus-Adopting their mistake, profoundly tain'd, [meansthinks [him. And force the beggarly last doit, byThe world was made in vain, if not for That his own humour dictates, fromThenceforth they are his cattle : drudgt s the clutch bom Of poverty, that thus he may procureTo bear his burdens ; drawing in his His thousands, weary of penurious life, gears A splendid opportunity to die ? [of oldAnd sweating in his service, his caprice Say ye, who (with less prudence than

:! THE TASK. 65Jotham ascribed to his assembled trees Exposed to manacles, deserves themIn politic conTOUtiou) put your trust well. [though foil'd.In the sharto\^' of a bramble.aud recliued The state that strives for liberty,In fancied peace beneath his dangerous And forced to abandon what shebranch, bravely sought, [tempt,Rejoice in him, and celebrate his sway. Deserves at least applause for her at-Where find ye passive fortitude? And pity for her loss. But that's aWhence springs [good causeYour self-denying zeal that holds it Not often unsuccessful; power usurp'dTo stroke the prickly grievance, and to Is weakness when opposed; conscioushang (\"praise ? of wrong,His thorns with streamers of continual 'Tis pusillanimous and prone to flight.We Wetoo are friends to loyalty. lovo But slaves that once conceive the glow-The king who loves the law, respects ing thoughthis bounds, [serve Of freedom, in that hope itself possessAnd reigns content with them: him we All that the contest calls for; spirit,Freely and with delight, who leaves strength,us free The scorn of danger, and united hearts, The surest presage of the good theyBut recollecting still that he is man, seek. [brious moreWe trust him not too far. King thoughhe be, [weak. Then shame to manhood, and oppro- To France than all her losses and de-And king in England too, he may beAnd vain enough to be ambitious still, feats.May exercise amiss his proper powers, Old or of later date, by sea or land, Her house of bondage, worse than thatOr covet more than freemen choose togrant: [ours of old [Bastille. —Which God avenged on Pharaoh theBeyond that mark is treason. He isTo administer, to guard, to adorn the Ye horrid towers, the abode of brokenstate, [his, hearts.WeBut not to warp or change it. are Ye dungeons, and ye cages of despair,To serve him nobly in the common That monarchs have suppUed from agecause, [slaves. to age [reign ears,True to the death, but not to be his With music such as suits their sove-Mark now the difference, ye that boast The sighs and groans of miserable menyour love There 's not an English heart thatOf kings, between your loyalty and ours: would not leap [knowWe love the man, the paltry pageant To hear that ye were fall'n at bst; toyou; [wealth. That even our enemies, so oft employ'dWe the chief patron of the common- In forging chains for us, themselvesYou the regardless author of its woes; were free. For he who values liberty confinesWe, for the sake of liberty, a king.You chains and bondage for a tyrant's His zeal for her predominance within Xo narrow bounds; her cause engagessake.Our love is principle, and has its root him [man.In reason, is judicious, manly, free; Wherever pleaded. 'Tis the cause of There dwell the most forlorn of humanYours, a blind instinct, crouches to the rod. kind, [demn'd untried,And licks the foot that treads It in the Immured though unaccused, con-dust. [seems. Cruelly spared, and hopeless of escape. There, like the visionary emblem seenWere kingship as true treasure as itSterling, and worthy of a wise man's By him of Babylon, life stands a stump. And filleted about wi(h hoops of brass.wish,I would not be a king to be beloved Still lives, though all his pleasantCauseless, and daub'd with undiscern- boughs are gone, [change;ing praise, [throne, To count the hour-bell, and expect no And ever, as the sullen sound is heard.Where love is mere attacbmont to theNot to the man who fills it a.- he ought. Still to reflect, that though a jojicssWhose freedom is by sufferance, and note [dull pace,at will To him whose moments all have oneOf a superior, ho is never free. Ten thousand rovers in the world atWho lives, and is not weary of a life large

— — —; ; ; ;66 COWPEE-S POEMS.Account it music ; that it summons some To be the tenant of man's noble form.To tlieatre or jocund feast or ball Thee therefore still, blameworthy asThe wearied hireling finds it a releaseFrom labour; and the lover, who has thou art, [squeezedchid [stroke With all thy loss of empire, and though By public exigence till annual foodIts long delay, feels every welcome Fails for the craving hunger of theUpon his heart-strings, trembling with state, [chiefdelight :— [thought Thee I account stiU happy, and theTo fly for refuge from distracting Among the nations, seeing thou artTo such amusements as ingenious woe free [is rude,Contrives, hard shifting and without My native nook of earth ! Thy climeher tools: Beplete with vapours, and disposesTo read engraven on the mouldy walls. muchIn staggering tvpes, his predecessor's All hearts to sadness, and none more tale, than mine; [softA sad memorial, and subjoin his own : Thine unadulterate manners are less And plausible than social life requires,To turn purveyor to an overgorged And thou hast need of discipline andAnd bloated spider, till the pamper'dpest. art [ceivesIs made familiar, watches his approach, To give thee what politer France re- From nature's botmty—that humane—Comes at his call, and serves him fora friend : [fro address [sure iaTo wear out time in numbering to and And sweetness, without which no plea-The studs that thick emboss his iron In converse, either starved by colddoor, [aslant. reserve, [less brawl;Then downward and then upward, then Or flushed with fierce dispute, a sense-And then alternate, with a sickly hope Yet being free I love thee ; for theBy dint of change to give his tasteless sake [tent,task Of that one feature can be well con-Some relish, till the sum exactly fomid Disgraced as thou has been, poor asIn all directions, he begins again: thou art.Oh comfortless existence ! hemm'd To seek no sublunary rest beside.around [would not kneel But once enslaved, farewell ! I couldWith woes, which who that suffers endure [at home,And beg for exile, or the pangs of death ? Chains nowhere patiently ; and chainsThat man should thus encroach on Where I am free by birthright, not atfellow man, [rights. all. [the grainAbridge him of his just and native Then what were left of roughness inEradicate him. tear him from his hold Of British natures, wanting its excuseI-'pon the endearments of domestic life That it belongs to freemen, would dis-And social, nip his fruit fulness and use. gust [double painAnd doom hi in for perhaps a heedless And shock me. I should then withword Feel all the rigour of thy fickle climeTo barrenness, and solitude, and tears. And if I must bewail the blessing lost For which our Hampden and ourMoves indignation, makes the name ofIdug [please) Sidneys bled,(Of king whom such prerogative can I wouldat least bewail it under skiesAs dreadful as the Matiichean god, Milder, among a people less austere.Adored through fear, strong only to In scenes which, having never knowndestroy. [flower me free, [felt,'Tis liberty alone that gives the Would not reproach me with the loss IOf fleeting life its lustre and perfume. Do I forebode impossible events.And we are weeds without it. All con- And tremble at vain dreams ? Heaven straint. grant I may!Except what wisdom lays on evil men, But the age of virtuous politics is past,Is evil: hurts the faculties, impedesTheir progress in the road of science And we are deep in that of cold pre- tence, [shscere, blinds Patriots are grown too shrev. 3 to baThe eyesight of discovery, and begets An I we too wise to trust them. HeIn those that suffer it a sordid mindBestial, a meagre intellect, tmllt that takes Deep in his soft credulity the stamp

;: ; ;; THE TASK.Desigu'ii by loud declnimers on the part Oppression, prisons, have no power toOf liberty, themselTCS the slaves of fust, bind; [no more.Incurs derision for his easy faith Which whoso tastes can be enslavedAnd lack of knowledge, and with cause 'Tis liberty of heart, derived fromenough Heaven, [to mankind,For when was public virtue to be found Bought with His blood who gave itWhere private was not 1 Can he love And seal'd with the same token. It isthe whole [friend held [sureWho loves no part ? He be a nation's By charter, and that charter sanction'dWho is, in truth, the friend of no man By the unimpeachable and awful oaththere ? [cause, And promise of a God. His otherCan ha be strenuous in his country's gifts [them His,Who slights the charities for whose All bear the royal stamp that speaksdear sake [loved ? And are august, but this transcendsThat country, if at all, must be be- them all.'Tis therefore sober and good men His other works, the visible displayare sad Of all-creating energy and might,For England's glory, seeing it wax pale Are grand ncf doubt, and worthy of theAnd sickly, while her champions wear wordtheir hearts That, finding an interminable spaceSo loose to private duty, that no brain, Unoccupied, has filled the void so well,Healthful and undistxu-b'd by factious And made so sparkling what was darkfumes, [weal. before. [true,Can dream them trusty to the general But these are not His glory. Man, 'tisSuch were not they of old, whose Smit with the beauty of so fair a scene,temper'd blades [control, Might well suppose the Artificer DivineDispersed the shackles of usurp'd Meant it eternal, had He not HimselfAnd hew'd them link from link. Then Pronounced it transient, glorious as itAlbion's sons [heart is,Were sons indeed; they felt a filial And still designing a more glorious far,Beat high within them at a mother's Doom'd it as insufficient for His praise.wrongs, [sphere. These therefore are occasional andAnd s'uining each in his domestic pass;Shone brighter still, once call d to Formd for the confutation of the fool.public view. [lot Whose lying heart disputes against a'Tis therefore many, whose sequester'd God; [away.Forbids their interference, looking on. That office served, they must be sweptAnticipate perforce some dire event Not so the labours of His love: theyAnd seeing the old castle of the state, shine [behold.That promised once more fiminess, In other heavens than these that we [shake, And fade not. There is paradise thatso assail'dThat all its tempest-beaten turrets fearsStand motionless, expectants of its fall. Xo forfeiture, and of its fruits He sendsAll has its date below; the fatal hour Large prelibation oft to saints below.Was register'd in heaven ere time Of these t'ne first in order, and thebegan. [works pledgeWe turn to dust, and all our mightiest And confident assurance of the rest.Die too : the deep foundations that we Is liberty; a flight into his arms, [way,lay, [remains. Ere yet mortality's fine threads giveTime ploughs them up, and not a trace A clear escape from tyrannising lust,We build with what we deem eternal And full immunity from penal woe.rock [stood Chains are the portion of revoltedA distant age asks where the fabric man, [servesAnd in the dust, sifted and search'd in Stripes, and a dungeon ; and his bodyThe indiscoverable secret sleeps, [vain. The triple purpose. In that sickly, foulBut there is yet a liberty unsung Opprobrious residence he finds themBy poets, and by senators unpraised. all.Which mouarchs cannot grant, nor all Prepense his heart to idols, he is heldthe powers [away In silly dotage on created things, [lowOf earth and hell confederate take Careless of their Creator. And thatA liberty which perBgcvftion, fraud, Atjd sordid grayitation of his powers

;; ; ; ;;63 COVrPEUS POEMS.To a vile clod, so draws him, with such \"Hath God indeed given appetitesforce [seek, to man, [with meansEesistless from the centre he should And stored the earth so plenteouslyThat he at last forgets it. All his hopes To gratify the hunger of His wish.Tend downwards; his ambition is to And doth He reprobate and will Hesink, [still damn [firstTo reach the depth profouuderstill, and The use of His own bounty ? makingProfounder, in the fathomless abyss So frail a kind, and then enacting lawsOf folly, plunging in pursuit of death. So strict, that less than perfect mustBut ere he gain the comfortless repose despair ? [of truthHe seeks, and acquiescence of his soul Falsehood ! which whoso but suspectsIn heaven-renouncing exile, he endures, Dishonours God, and makes a slave ofWhat does he not ? from lusts opposed man. [hirein vain, [foresees Do they themselves who undertake forAnd self-reproaching conscience. He The teachers office, and dispense atThe fatal issue to his health, fame, largepeace, Their weekly dole of edifying strains. Attend to their own music ? have theyFortune and dignity; the loss of allThat can ennoble man, and make frail faithlife, In what with such solemnity of tone And gesture they propound to our be-Short as it is, supportable. Still worse.Far worse than all the plagues with lief?which his sins [bodes Nay,—conduct hath the loudest tongue.Infect his happiest moments, he fore- The voice [priestAges of hopeless misery; future death, Is but an instrument on which theAnd death still future : not an hasty May play what tune he pleases. Instroke, [grave, the deed.Like that which sends him to the dusty The unequivocal authentic deed,But unrepealable enduring death. We find sound argument, we read theScripture is slill a trumpet to his fears heart.\" [needs belongWhat none can prove a forgery, may Such reasonings (if that name mustbe true [must. To excuses in which reason has no part)What none but bad men wish exploded, Serve to compose a spirit well inclinedThat scruple checks him. Eiot is not To live on terms of amity with vice.loud [midst And sin without disturbance. OftenNor drunk enough to drown it. In the (As often as libidinous discourse [urged Exhausted, he resorts to tolemn themesOf laughter his compunctions are sin- Of theological and grave import,) They gain at last his unreserved assentcere, [shines.And he abhors the jest by which heKemorse begets reform. His m-aster-lust Till hardeu'd his heart's temper in theFalls flrst before his resolute rebuke. forgeAnd seems dethron'd and vanquish'd. Of lust, and on the anvil of despair. He slights the strokes of conscience.Peace ensues, [childBut spurious and short-lived, the puny Nothing moves,Of self-congratulating pride, begot Or nothing much, his constancy in illOn fancied innocence. Again he falls. Vain tampering has but fostered hisAnd fights again; but finds his best disease [of death.essay 'Tis desperate, and he sleeps the sleepA pressage ominous, portending still Haste now, philosopher, and set himIts own dishonour by a worse relapse. free. [him hearTill nature, unavailing nature, foil'd Charm the deaf serpent wisely. MakeSo oft. and wearied in the vain attempt. Of rectitude and fitness; moral truthScoffs at her own performance. Eeason How lovely, and the moral sense hownow [the cause sure,Takes part with appetite, and pleads Consulted and obey'd, to guide his steps Directly to THE FIRST AND ONLY F.UR.Perversely, which of late she so con- Spare not in such a cause. Spend alldemn d [worn the powersWith shallow shifts and old devices,And tatfer'd in the service of debauch, Of rant and rhapsody in virtue's praise; Be most sublimely good, verboselyCovering his shame from his offendedsight. grand,

THE TASK. 09 And with poetic trappings grace thy Yet few remember them. They lived prose, unknown Till it outmantle all the pride of verse.— Till Persecution dragg'd them into fame. Ah, tinkling cymbal aud high-sound- And chased them up to heaven. Their [charm ashes flew [their names —ing brass. Smiiten in vain ! such music cannot No marble tells us whither. With The eclipse that intercepts truth's No bard embalms and sanctifies his heavenly beam, [ing soul. song; [themes. And chills and darkens a wide wander- And history, so warm on meaner The still smaU voice is wanted. He Is cold on this. She execrates indeed must speak, [effect, The tyranny that doom'd them to the Whose word leaps forth at once to its fire, [praise.; Who calls for things that are not, and But gives the glorious sufferers littleI they come. ['Tis a change He is the freeman whom the truth Grace makes the slave a freeman. makes free, [a chainI That turns to ridicule the turgid speech And all are slaves beside. There's noti Aud stately tone of moralists, who That helhsh foes confederate for his! boast, harm As if, Uke him of fabulous renown, Can wind around hira, but he casts it off] Wit'u as much ease as Samson his They had indeed abiUty to smoothj; The shag of savage nature, and were green withes. each He looks abroad into the varied field! An Orpheus, aud omnipotent in song. Of nature, and though poor perhaps, But transformation of apostate man compared [his sight. From fool to wise, from earthly to With those whose mansions ghtter in divine, [He alone. Calls the delightful scenery all his own. Is work for Him that made him. His are the mountains, and the valleys And He by means in philosophic eyes his, [enjoy Trivial and worthy of disdain, achieves And the resplendent rivers. His to The wonder; humanising what is brute With a propriety that none can feel, In the lost kind, extracting from the But who, with filial confidence inspired. lips [strength Can lift, to heaven an impresumptuous Of asps their venom, overpowering eye, [them all !\" By weakness, and hostility by love. And smiling say— \" My father made Patriots have toil'd, and in their Are they not his by a peculiar right, country's cause [deserve, And by an emphasis of interest his. Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they Whose eye they flU with tears of holy WeEeceive proud recompense. give joy, [exalted mind in charge [historic muse, Whose heart with praise, and whose Their names to the sweet lyre. The With worthy thoughts of that un- Proud of the treasure, marches with it wearied love [holds a world down [turn, That plann'd, and built, and still up- To latest times ; and Sculpture, in her So clothed with beauty, for rebellious Gives bond in stone and ever-duriug man? [reap brass [her trust. Yes— ye may fill your gamers, ye that To guard them, and to immortalise The loaded soil, and ye may waste But fairer wreaths are due, though much good never paid, [truth, In senseless riot; but ye will not find To those who, posted at the shrine of In feast or in the chase, in song or AHave fallen in her defence. patriot's dance, blood, A[indeed. hljerty like his, v.-ho unimpeach'd Well spent in such a strife, may earn Of usurpation, aud to no man's wroug, And for a time ensure to his loved land, Appropi'iates nature as his Father's The sweets of liberty and equal laws; work, [you. But martyrs struggle for a brighter And has a richer use of yours, than prize, [blood is shed He is indeed a freeman; free by birth And win it with more pain. Their Of no mean city, plann'd or ere the In confirmation of the noblest claim. hills [the sea Our claim to feed upou immortal truth, Were built, the fountains opeu'd, or To walk with God, to be divinely tree, With all his roaring multitude of waves. To soar, aud to anticipate the slcies. His freedom is the same in every state;

;:70 COVVrES'S POEMS.And no condition of this changeful life, Terrestrial in the vast and the minute.So manifold in cares, whose every day The unambiguous footsteps of the Go.lWhoBrings its own evil vrith it, makes it gives its lustre to an insect's win;.'.less: [pain, And wheels His throne upon the roUiugFor he has wings that neither sickness. worlds. [often holds,Nor penury can cripple or confluc. Much conversant with Heaven, sheNo nook so narrow but he spreads With those fair ministers of light tothem there [pressor holds man, [pomp.M'ith ease, and is at large. The op- That fill the skies nightly with silentHis body bound, but knows not what Sweet conference; inquires whatstrainsa range were they [star, in hasteHis spirit takes, unconscious of a chain. With which Heaven rang, when everyAnd that to bind him is a vain attempt To gratulate the new-created earth,Whom God delights in, and in whom Sent forth a voice, and all the sons ofHe dwells. [wouldst taste God [hosts—Acquaint thyself with God, if thou Shouted for joy. \" Tell me, ye shiningHis works. Admitted once to His em- That navigate a sea that knows nobrace, [blind before; storms.Thou Shalt perceive that thou wast Beneath a vault unsullied with a cloud.Thine eye shall be instructed, and If from your elevation, whence ye viewthine heart, [delight Distinctly scenes invisible to man.Made pure, shall relish with divine And systems of whose birth no tidingsTill then unfelt, what hands divine yet [a racehave wrought. [faces prone Have reach'd this nether world, ye spyBrutes graze the mountain-top with Favour'd as ours, transgressors fromAnd eyes intent upon the scanty herb the womb, [rise,It yields them; or, recumbent on its And hasting to a grave, yet doom'd tobrow, [spread And to possess a brighter heaven thanEuminate heedless of the scene out- j-ours ? [shoresBeneath, beyond, and stretching far As one who long detain'd on foreignaway [main. Pants to return, and when he sees afarFrom inland regions to the distant His country's weather-bleach'd andMan views it and admires, but rests batter'd rocks, [an eyecontent [has his praise, From the green wave emerging, darts\"With what he views The landscape Radiant with joy towards the happyBut not its Author. Unconcem'd who landform'd So I with animated hopes behold,The paradise he sees, he finds it such. And many an aching wish, your beamyAnd such well-pleased to find it, asks fires, [abyss.no more. [from Heaven, That shew like beacons in the blueNot so the mind that has been touch'd Ordain'd to guide the embodied spiritAnd in the school of sacred wisdom home, [rest.taught [the world, From toilsome life to never-endingITo read His wonders, in whose thought Love kindles as I gaze. I feel de-Fair as it is, existed ere it was. [His sires [cess.Not for its own sake merely, but for That give assurance of their own suc-Much more who fashion'd it, he gives And that infused from Heaven mustit praise [ought thither tend.\" [of truthPraise that from earth resulting as it So reads he nature whom the lampTo earth's acknowledged sovereign, Illuminates. Thy lamp, mysteriousfinds at once Word! [lost,Its only just proprietor in Him. Which whoso sees, no longer wandersThe soul that sees Him, or receives With intellects bemazed in endlesssublimed [ploy doubt, [hast b.uilt,New faculties, or learns at least to em- But runs the road of wisdom TuouMore worthily the powers she ovm'd %N ith means that were not till by Theebefore, [gaze employ'd, [in strengthDiscerns in all things, what with stupid Worlds that had never been had -t ThouOf ignorance till then she overlook'd, Been less, or less benevolent thanA ray of heavenly light gilding all strong. [Thy powerforms They are Thy witnesses, who speak

— ; THE TASK. tlAnd goodness mflnite, but speak in ears Made such by Thee, we love Thee forThat hear not, or receive not their re- that cause [before.port. For which we shunn'd and hated TheeIn vain Thy creatures testify of Thee Then we are free: then liberty like dayTill Thou proclaim Thyself. Theirs is Breaks on the soul, and by a flash fromindeed [Thine HeavenA teaching voice; but 'tis the praise of Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.That whom it teaches it makes prompt A voice is heard that mortal ears hearto learn, [use. not [voice of song.And with the boon gives talents for its Till Thou hast touch'd them; 'tis theTill Thou art heard, imaginations vain A loud Hosanna sent from all ThyPossess the heart, and fables false as works, [repeats.hell, [death Which he that hears it with a shoutYet deem'd oracular, lure down to And adds his rapture to the generalThe uninform'd and heedless souls of praise. [widemeu. [selves as blind. In that blest moment, Nature throwingWe give to Chance, blind Chance, our- Her veil opaque, discloses with a smileThe glory of Thy work, which yet ap- The Author of her beauties, who, re- pears tiredIPerfect and unimpeachable of blame. Behind His own creation, works imseen Challenging human scrutiny, and By the impure, and hears His powerIproved [judged. denied. [minds,I1 Then skilful most when most severely Thou art the source and centre of all1 But Chance is not ; or is not where thou Their only point of rest, eternal Word 1 reign'st From Thee departing, they are lost and1Thyijro vidence forbids that fickle power rove [peace.(If power she be that works but to At random without honour, hope, orconfound) [laws. From Thee is all that soothes the life of\ To mix the wild vagaries with Thy man, [cess,/ Yet thus we dote, refusing while we can His high endeavour, and his glad suc-Instruction, and inventing to ourselves His strength to suffer and his will toGods such as guilt makes welcome; servo. [good.gods that sleep, But oh. Thou bounteous Giver of allOr disregard our follies, or that sit Thou art of all Thy gifts Thyself theAmused spectators of this bustling crown! [we are poor;stage. Give what Thou canst, without TheeThee we reject, unable to abide And with Thee rich, take what ThouThy purity, till pure as Thou art pure, wilt away. —BOOK VI. THE WINTER WALK AT NOON. AEGUMEXT.— — —AABells at a distance Their effect fine noon in winter sheltered walkMeditation better than books— Our familiarity with the course of uaturomakes it appear less wonderful than it is— The transformation that—Aspring effects in a shrubbery described mistake concerning thecourse of nature corrected— God maintains it by an unremitted act—The amusements fashionable at this hour of the day reproved Animals—tappy, a delightful sight — Origin of cruelty to animals That it is a great— —crime proved from Scripture That proof illustrated by a tale A linedrawn between the lawful and unlawful destruction of them— Their—good and useful properties insisted on Apology for the encomiumsbestowed by the author upon animals — Instances of man's extravagant—praise of man The gi-oans of the creation shall have an end— A viewtaken of the restoration of all things— An invocation and an invitation—of Him who shall bring it to pass The retired man vindicated from—the charge of uselessness Conclusion.There is in souls a sympathy with I With melting airs or martini, brisk orBounds, [pleated grave. [liearAnd as the mind is pitch'd the ear is Some chord in unison with what we |

:72 COWPERS POEMS.Is touch'd within us, and the heart re- (Himself grown sober in the vale ofplies, [bells tears) [straint.How soft the music of those village And feel a parent's presence no re-Falling at intervals upon the ear But not to understand a treasure'sIn cadence sweet! now dying all away, worth [good.Now peaUug loud again and louder Till time has stolen away the slightedstill, [on. Is cause of half the poverty we feel,Clear and sonorous as the gale comes And makes the world the wildernessWith easy force it opens all the cells it is. [amiss.\"Where memory slept. \"Wherever I The few that pray at all pray oft have heard And, seeking grace to improve theA kindred melody, the scene recurs, prize they hold, [more.And with it all its pleasures and its \"V\'ould urge a wiser suit than askingpains. [takes. The night was winter in its roughestSuch comprehensive views the spirit mood, [now at noonThat in a few short moments I retrace The morning sharp and clear. But(As in a map the voyager his course) Upon the southern side of the slantThe windings of my way through many hills, [northern blast.years. [seems, And where the woods fence off theShort as in retrospect the journey The season smiles, resigning all itsIt seem'dnot always short; the rugged rage, [vault is blue path, And has the warmth of May. TheAnd prospect oft so dreary and forlorn. Without a cloud, and white without aMoved many a sigh at its dishearten- speck [below.ing length. The dazzling splendour of the sceneYet feeling present evils.while the past Again the harmony comes o'er the vale,Faintly impress the mind, or not at all. And through the trees I view the em-How readily we wish time sp\"nt re- battled tower [ceivevoked, [where once ^^Tience all the music. I again per- Tho soothing influence of the waftedThat we might try the ground again,(Through inexperience as we now per- strains,ceive) [have found! And settle in soft musings as I tread The walk still verdant, under oaks and\"We miss'd that happiness we mightSome friend is gone, perhaps his son's elms, [the glade. best friend, Whose outspread branches overarchA father, whose authority, in show The roof though movable through all\"When most severe, and mustering all its length [ficed,its force, flove: As the wind sways it, has yet well suf-\"Was but the graver countenance of And intercepting in their silent faU\"V\'liose favour, Hke the clouds of spring, The frequent flakes, has kept a pathmight lower. for me. [thought.And utter now and then an awful voice, Xo noise is here, or none that hindersBut had a blessing in its darkest frown, The redbreast warbles still, but is con-Threatening at once and nourishing the tent [suppress'dplant. [hand WMth slender notes and more than half\"We loved, but not enough, the gentle Pleased with his solitude, and flittingThat rear'd us. At a thoughtless age light [he shakesallured From spray to spray, where'er he restsBy everj' gilded folly, we renounced From many a twig the pendent dropsHis sheltering side, and wilfully fore- of ice, [low.went [regret. That tinkle in the wither'd leaves be-That converse which we now in vain Stillness, accompanied with sounds soHow gladly would the man recall to life soft, [hereThe boy's neglected sire ! a mother too, Charms more than silence. MeditationThat softer friend, perhaps moi-e gladly May think down hours to moments.still, [death. Here the heartMight he demand them at the gates of May give a useful lesson to the head.Sorrow has, since they went, subdued And learning wiser grow without hisand tamed books.The playful humour; he could now Knowledge and wisdom, far from beingendure cue,

; ;;flavo ofttimes no connexioii. Know- AU we behold is miracle, but seenledge dwells [men, So duly, all is miracle in vain.In heads replete with thoughts of other Where now the vital energy thatWisdom in minds attentive to their moved, [subtle lymphown. While summer was, the pure and]inowIedge, a rude unprofitable mass, Through the imperceptible meanderingThe mere materials with which wisdom veins [the icy touchbuilds, [to its place, Of leaf and flower? It sleeps; andTill smoothed and squared and fitted Of unproliflc winter has impress'dDoes but encimiber whom it seems to A cold stagnation on the intestine tide.enrich. [so much But let the months go round, a fewKnowledge is proud that he has learn'd short months, [shoots,Wisdom is humble that he knows no And all shall be restored. These nakedmore. [spells. Barren as lances, among which theBooks are not seldom talismans and windBy which the magic art of shrewder Makes wintry music, sighing as it goes,wits [thrall'd. Shall put their graceful foliage onHolds an unthinking multitude en- again, [spread,Some, to the fascination of a name And more aspiring, and with amplerSurrender judgment hoodwink'd. Shall boast new charms, and moraSome the style [wilds than they have lost. [clad,Infatuates, and through labyrinths and Then, each in its peculiar honoursOf error leads them, by a tune en- Shall publish, even to the distant eye.tranced, [bear Its family and tribe. Laburnxmi richWhile sloth seduces more, too weak to In streaming gold ; syringa ivory pureThe insupportable fatigue of thought,And swallowing therefore, without The scentless and \"the scented rose, pause or choice. this red [tall.The total grist unsifted, husks and all. And of an humbler growth, the other And throwing up into the darkestBut trees, and rivulets whose rapid gloom [yew,course [deer, Of neighbouring cypress, or more sableDefies the check of winter, haunts of Her silver globes, light as the foamingAnd sheepwalks populous with bleat- surf [wave;ing lambs, [her time That the wind severs from the brokenAnd lanes in which the primrose ere The lilac, various in array, now white.Peeps through the moss that clothes Now sanguine, and her beauteousthe hawthorn root, [and truth, head now setDeceive no student. Wisdom there With purple spikes psTamidal, as ifNot shy as in the world, and to be won Studious of ornament, yet unresolvedBy slow solicitation, seize at once Which hue she most approved, sheThe roving thought and fix it on them- chose them all; [and wan.selves, [perform Copious of flowers the woodbine, paleWhat prodigies can power divine But well compensating her sickly looksJlore grand than it produces year by With never-cloying odours, early and year. late:And all in sight of inattentive man? Hn^ericum all bloom, so thick a swarmFamiliar with the effect we slight the Of flowers like flies clothing hercause, slender rods [too,And in the constancy of nature's course, That scarce a leaf appears ; mezereon,The regular return of genial months, Though leafless, well attired, and thickAnd renovation of a faded world. beset [spraySee nought to wonder at. Should God With blushing wreaths investing everyagain. Althsea with the purple eye; theAs once in Gibeon, interrupt the race broom.Of the uudeviating and pxmctual sun. Yellow and bright as bullion unalloy'dHow would the world admire! but Her blossoms; and luxuriant above all speaks it less The jasmine, throwing wide her ele-An agency divine, to make him know gant sweets, [varnish'd leafHis moment when to sink and when to The deep dark green of whose un- rise. Makes more conspicuous, and illuminesAge after age, than to arrest bis course? more

—74 COWPEE'S POEMS.The blight profusion of her scatter'd Sustains and is the life of all that h'ves.stars. [their day; Nature is but a name for an effectThese have been, and these shall be iu Whose cause is God. He feeds theAnd all this uniform, uncolour'd scene secret fire [tain'd,Shall be dismantled of its fleecy load, By which the mighty process is maiu-And flush into variety again. Who sleeps not, is not weary ; in whoseFrom dearth to plenty, and from death sightto life, [man Slow-circlingages are as transient days;Is Nature's progress when she lectures Whose work is without labour; whoseIn heavenly truth ; evincing as she designsmakes [and works Xo flaw deforms, no difficulty thwarts:The grand transition, that there lives And whose beneficence no charge ex-A soul in all things, and that soul is hausts, [served.God. Him blind aiitiquitj- profaned, notThe beauties of the wilderness are His, With self-taught rites, and under vari-That makes so gay the solitary place ous names,Where no eye sees them. And the Female and male, Pomona, Pales, Pan,fairer forms And Flora and Vertumnus; peoplingThat cultivation glories in are His. earthHe sets the bright procession on its way; With tutelary goddesses and godsAnd marshals all the order of the year; That were not, and commending asHe marks the bounds which %vinter they would [grove.may not pass, [case. —To each some province, garden, field,orAnd blunts his pointed fury; in its But aU areimderOne. One spirit HisEusset and rude, folds up the tender Who wore the platted thorns withgerm bleeding browsUninjured, with inimitable art; Rules universal nature. Not a flowerAnd, ere one flowerj' season fades and But shews some touch in freckle, streak,dies, [nest. or strain.Designs the blooming wonders of the Of His unrivall'd pencil. He inspiresSome say that in the origin of things, Their balmj' odours and unparts their\"When all creation started into birth. hues, [includes.The infant elements received a law And bathes their eyes with nectar, andFrom which they swerve not since. Iu grains as coimtless as the seasideThat under force [move. sands, [the earth.Of that controlling ordinance they The forms with which he sprinkles allAnd need not His immediate hand who Happy who walks with Him! whomfirst [now. what he findsPrescribed their course, to regulate it Of flavour or of scent in fruit or flower.Thus dream they, and contrive to save Or what he views of beautiful or granda God [and spare In nature, from the broad majestic oakThe incumbrance of His own concerns To the green blade that twinkles in theThe great Artificer of all that moves Sim, [God.The stress of a continual act, the pain Prompts with remembrance of apresentOf unremitted vigilance and care. His presence, who made all so fair,As too laborious and severe a task. perceived, [no sceneSo man, the moth, is not afraid, it Makes all still fairer. As with Himseems, [might Is dreary, so with Him all seasonsTo span Omnipotence, and measure please.That knows no measure, by the scanty Though winter had been none, had manrule been trueAnd standard of his own. that is to-day. And earth be pimish'd for its tenant'sAnd is not ere to-morrow's sun go sake, [sky.down. Yet not in vengeance : as this smilingBut how should matter occupy a charge So soon succeeding such an angry night.Dull as it is, and satisfy a law And these dissolving snows, and thisSo vast in its demands, unless impell'd clear streamTo ceaseless service by a ceaseless force. Eecovering fast its liquid music, prove.And under pressure of some conscious Who, then, that has a minu wellcavise 7 [diffused, strung and tunedThe Lord of all, Hi?nself through all To contemplation, and within his reach

;; THE TASfi.A Bcene so friendly to his favourite Sits cooing in the pine-tree, nor bus\"task, [board. pendsWould waste attention at the chequer'd myHis long love-ditty for near ap-His host of wooden warriors to and fro proach, [elmMarching and countermarching, with Drawn from his refuge in some lonelyan eye [ridged That age or injury has hollow'd deep,As fixed as marble, with a forehead Where, on his bed of wool and mattedAnd furrow'd into storms, and with a leaves, [forthhand He has outslept the winter, venturesTrembling, as if eternity were hung To frisk a while, and bask in the warmIn balance on his conduct of a pin? sun, [play.Nor envies he aught more their idle The squirrel, flippant, pert, and full ofsport, He s(^es me, and at once, swift as a\"Who pant with application misappb'ed bird, [whisks his brush,To trivial toys, and pushing ivory balls Ascends the neighbouring beech ; thereAcross a velvet level, feel a joy And perks his ears, and stamps andAkin to rapture when the bauble finds scolds aloud.Its destined goal of difficult access. With all the prettiness of feign'd alami,Nor deems he wiser him, who gives his And anger insignificantly fierce.noon [to shop The heart is hard in nature, and unfitTo miss, the mercer's plague, from shop For human fellowship, as being voidWandering and httering with unfolded Of sympathy, and therefore dead alikesilks [none. To love and friendship both, that is notThe polish'd counter, and approving pleasedOr promising with smiles to call again. With sight of animals enjoying life.Nor him, who by his vanity seduced. Nor feels their happiness augment hisAnd soothed into a dream that he dis- own. [the gladecerns The bounding fawn, that darts acrossThe difference of a Guido from a daub. When none pursues, through mere de-Frequents the crowded auction. light of heart, [glee;Station'd there And spirits buoyant with excess ofAs duly as the Langford of the show. The horse, as wanton and almost asWith glass at eye, and catalogue in fleet, [full speed,hand, [some cant That skims the spacious meadow atAnd tongue accomplish'd in the ful- Then stops and snorts, and throwingAnd pcndantry that coxcombs learn high his heels.with ease. Starts to the voluntary race againOft as the price-deciding hammer falls, The very kine that gambol at high noon,He notes it in his book, then raps his The total herd receiving first from onebox, [fate That leads the dance a summons to boSwears 'tis a bargain, rails at his hard gay, [and uncouth—That he has let it pass but never bids Though wild their strange vagaries,Here unmolested, through whatever Their efforts, yet resolved with onesign [mist. consent [mayThe sun proceeds, I wander: neither To give such act and utterance as theyNor freezing sky, nor sultry, checking To ecstacy too big to be suppress'dmo, [joy. These, and a thousand images of bliss,Nor stranger intermeddling with my With which kind nature graces everyEven in the spring and playtime of the sceneyear, Where cruelman defeats not herdesjgn.That calls the unwonted villager abroad Impart to the benevolent, who wishWith all her little ones, a sportive train, All that are capable of pleasure pleased,ATo gather kingcups in the yellow mead, far superior hajipiness to theirs,And prink their hair with daisies, or to The comfort of a reasonable joy. Man scarce had risen, obedient topick [brook, His callA cheap but wholesome salad from the Who form'd him from the dust, hisThese shades are all my own. Thetimorous hare, [guest, future grave,Grown so familiar with her frequent When he was crown'd as never kingScarce shuns me ; and the stockdove was since.unalarm'd, God set the diadem upon his head,

,: ! COWPERS POEMS.And angel choirs attended. Wonder- Now happiest they that occupy theing stood [him pass'd, scenes [resort,The new-made monarch, while before The most remote from his abhorr'dWhomAll happy, and all perfect in their kind. once, as delegate of ttod onThe creatures, summon'd from their earth, [loved.various haunts [sway. They fear'd, and as His perfect imageTo see their sovereign, and confess his The wilderness is theirs, with all itsVast was his empire, absolute his power, caves, [plainsOr bounded only by a law whose force Its hollow glens, its thickets, and its'Twas his sublimest privilege to feel Unvisited by man. There they are free,And own, the law of universal love. And howl and roar as likes them, un-He ruled with meekness, they obey'd controU'd,with joy; [heart. Nor ask his leave to slumber or to play.No cruel purpose lurk'd within his Woe to the tyrant, if he dare intrudeAnd no distrust of his intent in theirs. Within the confines of their wildSo Eden was a scene of harmless sport, domain. [here!\"Where kindness on his part who ruled The lion tells him— I am monarchthe whole And if he spare him, spares him on theBegat a tranquil confidence in all, terms [scornAnd fear as yet was not, nor cause for Of royal mercy, and through generousfear. [man To rend a victim trembling at his foot.But Bin marr'd all ; and the revolt of In measure, as by force of instinctThat source of evils not exhausted yet. drawn.Was punish'd with revolt of his from Or by necessity constrain'd, they livehim. Dependant upon man, those in hisGtarden of God, how terrible the change fields, [his roof;Thy groves and lawns then witness'd! These at his crib, and some beneathEvery heart. They prove too often at how dear a rateEach animal of every name, conceived He sells protection. Witness at his footA jealousy and an instinctive fear. The spaniel djingfor some venial fault.And, conscious of some danger, either Under dissection of the knotted fled scourge [and yells ;Precipitate the loathed abode of man, Witness, the patient ox, with stripesOr growl'd defiance in such angry sort, Driven to the slaughter, goaded as heAs taught him too to tremble in his runs [heelsturn. To madness, while the savage at hisThus harmony and family accord Laughs at the frantic sufferer's furyWere driven from Paradise; and in spent [thrown.that hour [swell'd Upon the guiltless passenger o'er-The seeds of cruelty, that since have He too is witness, noblest of the trainTo such gigantic and enormous growth, That wait on man, the flight-perform-Were sown in human nature's fruitful ing horsesoil. [pain With unsuspecting readiness he takesHence date the persecution and the His murderer on his back, and push'dThat man inflicts on all inferior kinds, all day, [heave for life.Eegardless of their plaints. To make With bleeding sides, and flanks thathim sport. To the far-distant goal, arrives andTo gratify the frenzy of his wrath, dies. muchOr his base gluttony, are causes good So little mercy shews who needs soAnd just in his account, why bird and Does law, so jealous in the cause ofbeast \" [be dyed man, [None.Should suffer torture, and the streams Denounce no doom on the delinquent ?With blood of their inhabitants im- He lives, and o'er his brimming beakerpaled, [war boastsEarth groans beneath the burden of a (As if barbarity were high desert)Waged with defenceless innocence, The inglorious feat, and clamorous inwhUe he. praise [supposeNot satisfied to prey on all around, Of the poor brute, seems wisely toAdds tenfold bitterness to death, by The honours of his matchless horse hispangs [devours. own. [earthNeedless, and first torments ere he But many a crime decm'd innocent in

: THE TASK. 77Is resrister' J in heaven, and these, no Where England, stretch'd towardsdoubt, [annex'd. the setting sun, [wave.Have each their record, with a curse Narrow and long, o'orlooks the westernMan may dismiss compassion from his Dwelt young Misagathus ; a scomer heheart. [the Jew Of God and goodness, atheist in ostent,But God will never. When He charged Vicious in act, in temper savage-fierce.To assist his foe\"s down-fallen beast to He journey'd; and his chance was asrite, [seized he wentAnd when the bush-exploring boy that To join a traveller of far different note, Evander, famed for piety, for yearsThe young, to let the parent bird gofree, [works Deserving honour, but for wisdomProved He not plainly that His meaner more.Are yet His care, and have an interest Fame had not left the venerable man A stranger to the manners of the youth, all, Whose face too was familiar to his view. Their way was on the margin of theAll in the universal Father's love? land, [whose baseOn Xoah, and in him on all mankind.The charter was conferr'd, on which O'er the green summit of the rocks we hold Beats back the roaring surge, scarceThe flesh of animals in fee, and claimO'er all we feed on, power of life and heard so high. [moveddeath. [well The charity that warm'd his heart wasBut read the instrument, and mark it At sight of the man-monster. With aThe oppression of a tyrannous control smileCan find no warrant there. Feed, then, Gentle, and affable, and full of grace,and yield [through sin, As fearful of offending whom he wish'd Much to persuade, he plied his earThanks for thy food. Carnivorous,Feed on the slain, but spare the living with truths [press'd. brute. Not harshly thunder'd forth, or rudely The Governor of all. Himself to all But, like his purpose, gracious, kind,So bountiful, iu whose attentive earThe unfledged raven and the lion's and sweet. [trable man wheip \" And dost thou dream.\" the impene-Plead not in vain for pity on the pangsOf hunger unassuaged, has interposed. Exclaim'd, \" that me, the lullabies ofNot seldom. His avenging arm, to smiteThe injurious trampler upon Nature's age, And fantasies of dotards such as thou. Can cheat, or move a moment's fear in me ? [bravelaw, [brute. Hark now the proof I give thee, that theThat claims forbearance even for a Need no such aid as superstition lends,He hates the hardness of a Balaam's To steel their hearts against the dreadheart; [strike of death.\"And prophet as he was, he might not He spoke, and to the precipice at hand Push'd with a madman's fury. FancyThe blameless animal, without rebuke.On which he rode. Her opportune shrinks, [thoughtoffence [died. And the blood thrills and curdles at theSaved him, or the unrelenting seer had Of such a gulf as he designed his grave.He sees that human equity is slack But though the felon on his back couldTo interfere, though iu so just a cause. dare [steedAnd makes the task His own. Inspir- The dreadful leap, more rational hising dumb [keen Declined the death, and wheeling swift-And helpless victims with a sense so ly round,Of injury, with such knowledge of Or ere his hoof had press'd the crumb- their strength. ling verge.And such sagacity to take revenge, Baffled his rider, saved against his will.That oft the beast has seem'd to judge The frenzy of the brain may be redress'd the man. By medicine well applied, but withoutAn ancient, not a legendary tale. graceBy one of sound intelligence rehearsed,(If such who plead for Providence may The heart's insanity admits no cure. seem Enraged the more by what might haveIn modern eyes,) shall make the reform'd His horrible intent, again he soughtdo3trine clear. Destruction with a zeal to be destroy'd.

; :: COWPEE'S POEMS.With sounding whip and rowels dyed The chamber, or refectorj-, may dieiu blood. [meant A necessary act incurs no blame.But still in vain. The Providence that Not so when, held within their properA longer day to the far nobler beast, bounds, [air,Spared yet again the ignobler for his And guiltless of offence, they range thesake. [sincere Or take their pastime in the spaciousAnd now, his prowess proved, and his field [huntsIncurable obduracy evinced. There they are privileged; and he thatHis rage grew cool ; and pleased per- Or harms them there is guOty of ahaps to have earn'd wrong.So cheaply the renown of that attempt, Disturbs the economy of nature's realm.\"With looks of some complacence he Who when she form'd, design'd themresumed [amaze an abode. [health,His road, deriding much the blank The sum is this : if man's convenience.Of good Evandcr, stUl where he was left Or safety interfere.his rightsand claimsFix'd motionless, and petrified with Are paramount, and must extingtiish 'dread. [themes theirs. [that are.—So on they fared; discourse on other Else they are all the meanest thingsEnsuing, seamed to obliterate the past. As free to live and to enjoy that life.And tamer far for so much fury shewn. As God was free to form them at the(As is the course of rash and fiery men). first, [them all.The rude companion smiled as if trans- Who in His sovereign wisdom madeform'd. [was near, Ye therefore who love mercy, teachABut \"twas a transient calm. storm your sons [our yearsAn unsuspected storm. His hour was To love it too. The spring-time ofcome. Is soon dishonour'd and defiled in mostThe impious challenger of power divine By budding ills, that ask a prudent handWas now to learn that Heaven, though To check them. But, alas ! none soonerslow to wrath, shoots,Is never with impunity defied, [mood, If unrestrain'd, into luxuriant growth,His horse, as he had caught his masters Thau cruelty, most devilish of them all.Snorting.andstarting into sudden rage. Mercy to him that shews it, is the ruleUnbidden, and not now to be controU'd, And righteous limitation of its act.Eush'd to the cliff, and having reached By which Heaven moves in pardoningit, stood. guilty man, [years,At once the shock unseatedhim: he flew And he that shews none, being ripe inSheer o'er the craggy barrier, and im- And conscious of the outrage he com-mersed [it not, mits,Deep in the flood,found,when he sought Shall seek it and not find it in his turn.The death he had deserved, and died Distinguish'd much by reason, andalone. [.the fool stUl moreSo God wrought double justice ; made By our capacity of grace divine, [sak3.The victim of his own tremendous From creatures that exist but for our Which having served us, perish, we arechoice, [revenge.And taught a brute the way to safe held I would not enter on my list of friends Accountable, and God, some future day,(Though graced with polish'd manners Will reckon with us roundly for theand fine sense, abuse [trust.Tet wanting sensibility) the man Of what he deems no mean or trivialWho needlessly sets foot upon a worm. Superior as we are, they yet dependAn inadvertent step may crush the snail Xot more on human help, than we onThat crawls at evening in the public theirs. [were givenpath Their strength, or speed, or vigUance,But he that has humanity, forewam'd, I In aid of our defects. In some areWill tread aside, and let the reptile live. I foundThe creeping vermin, loathsome to the Such teachable and apprehensive parts,sight, [intrudes, That man\"s attainments in his ownAnd charged perhaps with venom, that concerns, [brutes in theirs,A visitor unwelcome, into scenes Match'd with the expertneii of theSacred to neatness and repose, the Are ofttimes vanqnish'd and thrownalcove, far behind.

— ; ;;; THE TASK.Some shew that nice sagacity of smell, Had fled from William, and the newsAnd read with such discernment in the was fresh. port The simple clerk, but loyal, did an-And figure of the man, his secret aim, nounce, [staves,That oft we owe our safety to a skill And eke did rear right merrily, twoWe could not teach, and must despair Sung to the praise and gloiy of Kingto learn. [stoop George. [memory next,But learn we might, if not too proud to Man praises man; and Garrick'sTo quadruped instructors, many a When time hath somewhat mellow'dgood it, and madeAnd useful quality, and virtue too. The idol of our worship while he lived,Barely exemplified among ourselves; The god of our idolatry once more.Attachment never to he wean'd or Shall have its altar; and the worldchanged shall goBy any change of fortune, proof alike In pilgrimage to bow before his shrine. The theatre, too smail, shall suffocateAgainst unkindness, absence and ne- Its squeezed contents, and more thanglect it admits ;Fidelity that neither bribe nor threatCan move or warp ; and gi-atitude for Shall sigh at their exclur.ion, and return UngratiBed. For there some noble lordsmallAnd trivial favours, lasting as the life Shall stuff his shoulders with KingAnd glistening even in the djing eye. Kichard's hunch.Man praises man. Desert in arts or Or wrap himself in Hamlet's inky cloak,arms [sit And strut and storm and straddle,Wins public honour; and ten thousand stamp and stare, [not act.Patiently present at a sacred song, To shew the world how Garrick didCommemoration-mad ; content to hear For Garriek was a worshipper himself(Oh wonderful effect of music's power !) He drew the liturgy, and framed theMessiah's eulogj', for Handel's sake. ritesBut less, methinks, than sacrilege And solemn ceremonial of the day,might .serve [have dared And calld the world to worship on the—(For was it less what heathen would banks [proofTo strip Jove's statue of his oaken Of Avon famed in song. Ah, pleasant wreath, That piety has still in human heartsAnd hang it up in honour of a man ?) Some place, a spark or two not yetMuch less might serve, when all that extinct. p^looming wreath we design The mulberry-tree was hung withIs but to gratify an itching ear, The mulberry-tree stood centre of theAnd give the day to a musician's dance [dulcet airspraise. [not born The mitlberry-tree was hymn'd withRemember Handel! Who that was And from his touchwood trmik theDeaf as the dead to harmony, forgets, mulberry-treeOr can, the more than Homer of his Supplied such relics as devotion holds Still sacred, and preserves with piousage ? [we praise—Yes we remember him; and while care. [reign'dA talent so divine, remember too So 'twas a hallow'd time: decorumThat His most holy Book from whom And mirth without offence. No fewit came [before, return'd, [frcsh'd.Was never meant, was never used Doubtless much edlQed, and all re-To buckram out the memory of a man. — Man praises man. The rabble allBut hush!— the muse perhaps is too alive, [and styes,' severe. From tippling benches, cellars, stalls,And with a gravity beyond the size Swarm in the streets. The statesmanAnd measure of the offence, rebukes a of the day, [comes.deed [more A pompous and slow-moving pageant,Less impious than absurd, and owing Some shout him, and some hang uponTo want of judgment then to wrong his car [Maidens wavedesign. To gaze In his eyes, and bless him.So in the chapel of old Ely House, Their kerchiefs, and old women weepWhen wandering Charles, who meant for joy: While others, not so satisfied, unhorseto IjC tiic Ulii'd,

; ;:The gilded equipage, and turning loose And what His storms have blasted andHis steeds, usurp a place they well defaced deserve. For man's revolt, shall with a smileWhy ? what has charm'd them ? Hath repair. [sweethe paved the state? [No. Sweet is the harp of prophecy ; too Not to be wrong'd by a mere mortalNo. Doth he purpose its salvation ?Enchanting novelty, that moon at full, touchThat finds out every crevice of the Nor can the wonders it records be sung To meaner music, and not suffer loss.head [theirs But when a poet, or when one like me, Happy to rove among poetic flowers.That is not sound and perfect, hath in Though poor in skill to rear them, lightsWrought this disturbance. But thewane is near, [soon.And hifi own cattle must suffice him at last [divinely fair.Thus idly do we waste the breath of On some fair theme, some theme jjraiso. Such is the impulse and the spur hoAnd dedicate a tribute, in its use feels [worth.And just direction sacred, to a thingDoom'd to the dust, or lodged already To give it praise proportion'd to its That not to attempt it, arduous as hethere. deems [still.Encomium in old time was poet's work; The labour, were a task more arduousBut poet's having lavishly long since Oh scenes surpassing fable, and yetExhausted all materials of the art. true, [can seeThe task now falls into the public Scenes ofaccomplish'dbliss! which whohand [theme. Though but in distant prospect, and notAnd I, contented with an humble feel [joy?Have pour'd my stream of panegyric His soul refresh'd with foretaste of thedown [winds Rivers of gladness water all the earth,The vale of nature, where it creeps and And clothe all climes with beauty ; theAmong her lovely works, with a secure reproachAnd unambitious course, reflecting Of barrenness is past. The fruitful fieldclear [brutes. Laughs with abundance ; and the landIf not the virtues, yet the worth of once lean. Or fertile only in its own disgrace,And I am recompensed, and deem the toils Exults to see its thistly curse repeal'd.Of poetry not lost, if verse of mine The various seasons woven into one. And that one season an eternal spring.May stand between an animal and woo,And teach one tyrant pity for his The garden fears no blight, and needsdrudge. [world. no fence,The groans of nature in this nether For there is none to covet, all are full.Which Heaven has heard for ages, have The lion, and the libbard, and the bearan end. [sung. Graze with the fearless flocks ; all baskForetold by prophets, and by poet's at noonWhose fire was kindled at the prophets' Together, or all gambol in the shadelamp, [comes. Of the same grove, and drink one com-The time of rest, the promised sabbath, mon stream.Six thousand years of sorrow have well- Antipathies are none. No foe to mannigh [course Lurks in the serpent now : the motherFulfiil'd their tardy and disastrous sees, [handOver a sinful world; and what remains And smiles to see, her infant's playfulOf this tempestuous state of himian Stretch'd forth to dally with the crestedthings. worm.Is merely as the working of a sea To stroke his azure neck, or to receiveBefore a calm, that works itself to rest The lambent homage of his arrowyFor He whose car the winds are, and tongue. [mankindthe clouds [march. AH creatures worship man, and allThe dust that waits upon His sultry One Lord, One Father. Error has noWhen sin hath moved Him, and His placewrath is hot, [scend That creeping pestilence is driven away:Shall visit earth in mercy; shall dc- The breath of Heaven has chased it.Propilious, in His chariot paved with In the heart.love, No Passion touches a discordant string,

:; ; THE TASK. 81But all is harmony and love. Disease \"Worms wind themselves into onrIs not: the pure and uncontaminate sweetest flowers, [poor heartblood [of age. And even the joy that haply someHolds its due course, nor fears the frost Derives from Heaven, pure as theOne song employ\" s all nations, and all fountain is, [taintcry, [for us!\" Is sullied in the stream; takiug a\" Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain From touch of human lips, at best im-The dwellers in the vales and on the pure.rocks [tops Oh for a world in principle as chasteShout to each other, and the mountain- As this is gross and selfish ! over whichFrom distant mountains catch the fly- Custom and prejudice shall bear noing joy, [strain, sway [ing asideTiU, nation after nation taught the That govern all things here, shoulder-Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna The meek and modest truth, and forc-round. [fiU'd: ing her [strifeBehold the measure of the promise To seek a refuge from the tongue ofSee Salem built, the labour of a God In nooks obscure, far from the ways ofBright as a sun the sacred city shines meu ; [sword.All kingdoms and all princes of the Where violence shall never lift theearth Xor cunning justify the proud man'sFlock to that light ; the glory all lands wrong.Flows into her; unbounded is her joy, Leaving the poor no remedy but tearsAnd endless her inerease. Thy rams Where he that fiUs an office, shallare there esteemNebaioth, and the flocks of Kedar there; The occasion it presents of doing goodThe looms of Ormus, and the mines of More than the perquisite; where lawInd, [there. shall speak [promptsAnd Saba's spicy groves, pay tribute Seldom, and never but as wisdomPraise is in all her gates : upon her And equity: not jealous more to guardwalls, A[courts. worthless form, than to decide aright;And in her streets, and in her spacious Where fashion shall not sanctify abuse.Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there Nor smooth good-breeding (supple-Kneels with the native of the furthest mental grace)west. With lean performance ape the workAnd .3]thiopia spreads abroad the hand of love.And worships. Her report has Come then, and, added to Thy manytravell'd forth [come crowns, [earth,Into all lands. From every clime they Eeceive yet one, the crown of all theTo see thy beauty, and to share thy joy, Thou who alone art worthy 1 It wasO Sion ! an assembly such as earth ThineSaw never, such as heaven stoops down By ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth,to see. [For all were once And Thou hast made it Thine by pur-Thus heavenward all things tend. chase since.Perfect, and all must be at length re- And overpaid its value with Thy blood.stored, [would else Thj- saints proclaim Thee king ; and inSo God has greatly purposed ; who their heartsIn His dishonour'd works Himself Thy title is engraven with a penendure [redress. Dippd in the fountain of eternal love.Dishonour, and be wrong'd without Thy saints proclaim Thee king ; andHaste then, and wheel away a shatter'd Thy delay [they seeworld, [see Gives courage to their foes, who, couldTe slow-revolving seasons ! we would The dawn of Thy last advent, long( \ sight to which our eyes are strangers desired, [hills.yet) [His laws, Would creep into the bowels of theA world that does not dread and hate And flee for safety to the falling rocks.And suffer for its crime ; would learn The very spirit of the world is tiredhow fair [good, Of its ovni taunting question, ask'd so [approach ? \"The creature is that God pronounces long,How pleasant in itself what pleases \" Where is the promise of your Lord'sHim. [sting; The infldel has shot his bolts away,Here every drop of honey hides a Till his exhausted quiver yielding none,

;He gleans the blunted shafts that have Of obj acts more illnstrions in her viewrecoil'd, [again. And occupied as earnestly as she,And aims them at the shield of Truth Though more sublimely, he o'erlooksThe veil is rent, rent too by priestly the world. [them nothands. She scorns his pleasures, for she knowsThat hides divinity from mortal eyes, He seeks not hers, for he has provedAnd all the mysteries to faith proposed, them vain.Insulted and traduced, are cast aside He cannot skim the ground like sum-As useless to the moles and to the bats. mer birdsThey now are deem'd the faithful, and Pursuing gilded flies,and such he deemsare praised, Her honours, her emoluments, her joys.\"Who constant only in rejecting Thee, Therefore in contemplaiion is his bliss,Deny Thy Godhead with a martyr's Whose power is such, that whom shezeal, [sake. lifts from earth [unseen.And quit their ofBoe for their error's She makes familiar with a heuvenBlind and in love with darkness! yet And shews him glories yet to be re-even these [who knee veal'd. [employ'd,\"Worthy, compared with sycophants, Not slothful he, though seeming un-Thy name adoring, and then preach And censured oft as useless. StillestThee man ! [Church may fare streamsSo fares Thy C'nurc'n. But how Thy Oft water fairest meadows, and the birdThe world takes little thought ; who That flutters least is longest on thewill may preach, [alike wing.And what they will. All pastors are Ask him, indeed, what trophies he hasTo wandering sheep, resolved to follow raised, [famenone. [Gain: Or what achievements of immortalTwo gods divide them all—Pleasure and He purposes, and he shall answer-For these they live, they sacrifice to None.these, His warfare is within. There unfat iguedAnd in their service wage perpetual war His fervent spirit labours. There heWith conscience and with Thee. Lust fights, [himself,in their hearts. [the earth And there obtains fresh triimiphs o'erAnd mischief in their hands, they roam And never-withering wi'eaths, com-To prey upon each other ; stubborn, pared with which [weeds.fierce, [disgrace. The laurels that a Csesar reaps areHigh-minded, foaming out their own Perhaps the self-approving haughtyThy prophets speak of such ; and, world, [whistling silksnoting down [times. That as she sweeps him with herThe features of the last degenerate Scarce deigns to notice him, or, if sheExhibit every Uneament of these. see, [God,Come, then, and, added to Thy many Deems him a cipher in the works ofcrowns, Keceives advantage from his noiselessEeceive yet one, as radiant as the rest, hours [she owesDue to Tljy last and most effectual work, Of which she little dreams. PerhapsThy word fulflll'd, the conquest of a Her sunshine and her rain, her bloom-world. [now ing springHe is the happy man whose hfe even And plenteous harvest, to the prayerShews somewhat of that happier hfe to he makes,come; [state, When, Isaac-like, the solitary saint\"Who, doom'dto an obscure but tranquil Walks forth to meditate at even tide.Is pleased -with it, and, were he free to And think on her, who thinlis not forchoose, [peace, the fruit herself. [concerns\"Would make his fate his choice; whom Forgive him then, thou bustler inwhomOf virtue, and virtue, fruit of Of little worth, an idler at the best.faith, [one If, author of no mischief andsome good,Prepare for happiness; bespeak him He seeks his proper happiness byContent indeed to sojourn while he means [thine.must [home. That may advance, but cam ot aiuderBelow the skies, but having there his Nor though he Uead the secret path ofThe world o'erlooks him in her busy life, Eagdge no notice, and enjoy much case.search

—: ; ; 83Account biiu an encumbrance on t'ne Like au unburied carcass trick'd withstate, flowers.Receiving benefits.and rendering none. Is but a gamish'd nuisance, fitter farHis sphere, though humble, if that For cleanly riddance than for fair attire.humble sphere [though small So life glides smoothly and by stealthShine, with his fair example, and away, [goldHis influence, if that influence all be More golden than that age of fabledspent [strife, Eenown'd in ancient song; not ves'dIn soothing sorrow and in quenching with careIn aiding helpless indigence, in worksFrom which at least a grateful few Or stain'd with guilt, beneficent, ap- proved [end. derive Of God and man, and peaceful in itaSome taste of comfort in a world of woe, mySo glide life away! and so at last,Then let the supercilious great confessHe serves his country; recompenses My share of duties decently fulfill'd, May some disease, not tardy to per-well [vine form [stroke,The state beneath the shadow of whose Its destined ofSce, yet with gentleHe sits secure ; and in the scale of life Dismiss me weary to a safe retreatHolds no ignoble, though a slighted Beneath the turf that I have often trod.place. [than seen, It shall not grieve me, then, that once,The man whose virtues are more felt when call'd [verse.Must drop indeed the hope of public To dress a .Sofa with the flowers ofpraise [it can, I play'd a while, obedient to the fair,But he may boast what few that win \"^'ith that light task ; but soon,to pleaseThat if his coimtry stand not bv his Whomher more, [ please.skill, [her fall. fiowers alone I knew would littleAt least his follies have not wrought Let fall the unflnish'd wreath, andPolite refinement offers him in vain roved for fruit [harsh, 'tis true,Her golden tube, through which a Kov'd for, and gather'd much: some sensual world Pick'd from the thorns and briers ofDraws gross impurity, and likes it well.The neat conveyance hiding all the reproof, [.some But wholesome, well-digested; grateful offence. To palates that can taste immortalNot that he peevishly rejects a mode truth,Because that world adopts it. If it bear Insipid else, and sure to be despised.The stamp and clear impression of But all is in His hand, whose praise Igood sense [worth. seek. [hears.And be not costly more than of true In vain the poet sings, and the world If He regard not, though divine theHe puts it on, and for decorum sakeCan wear it even as gi'acefully as she. theme.She judges of refinement b}' the eye. 'Tis not in artful measures, in the chimeHe by the test of conscience,and a heart And idle tinkling of a minstrel's lyre.Not soon deceived ; aware that what is To charm His ear, whose eye is on thebase [vice heart [proudest strain,No polish can make sterling, and that —Whose frown can disappoint theThough well perfumed and elegantly Whose approbation prosper evendress'd. mine. TRUTH, AHGUMENT.— —The pursuit of error leads to destruction Grace leads the right way Its di- —rection despised The self-sufBcient Pharisee compared with the peacock ——The pheasant compared with the Chri-stian Heaven abhors affected —sanctity—The hermit .and his penances The self-torturing Brahmin Pride the ruling principle of both— Picture of a sanctimonious Prude — —Picture of a saint Freedom of a Christian Importance of motives, illus- —trated by the conduct of two servants The traveller overtaken by a storm —likened to the sinner dreading the vengeance of the Almighty Dangerous —.state of those who are just in their o^vn conceit The last moments of the

— — —; ;; !84 COWPEE'S POEMS.—infidel— Content of the ignorant but believing cottager The rich, thewise, and the great, neglect the means of winning heaven— Poverty the—best soil for religion What man really is, and what in his own esteem-—Unbelief often terminates in suicide Scripture the only cure of woe—Pride the passion most hostile to truth Danger of slighting the mercy— —offered by the Gospel Plea for the virtuous heathen Commands given— —by God on Sinai The judgment-day Plea of the believer.Man on the dubious waves of error These are the sober, in whose coolertossd, [lost, brainsHis ship half-founder'd andhis compass Some thought of immortality remains; The rest, too busy or too gay to waitSees, far as human optics may com- On the sad theme, their everlastingmand,A sleeping fog. and fancies it dry land state.Spreads all his canvas, every sinew Sport for a day, and perish in a night;plies, [dies. The foam upon the waters not so light.Pants for it, aims at it, enters it, aud Who judged the Pharisee? WhatThen farewell all self-satisfying odious cause [laws?schemes, [dreams. Exposed him to the vengeance of theHis well-built systems, philosophic Had he seduced a virgin, wrong'd aDeceitful views of future bliss, fare- friend, [vate end?well! [hell. Or stabb'd a man to serve some pri-He reads his sentence at the flames of Was blasphemy his sin? Or did heHard lot of man! to toil for the re- stray [day?—ward [hard? From the strict duties of the sacredOf virtue, and yet lose it! Wherefore Sit long and late at the carousingHe that would win the race must guide board? [charged his Lord.) his horse (Such were the sins with which heObedient to the customs of the course,Else, though unequalld to the goal he —No the man's morals were exact.flies, [prize. What then? 'Twas his ambition to be seen of men?A meaner than himself shall gain the His virtues were his pride; and thatGrace leads the right way,—if you one vice [price;choose the wrong, [tongue; Made all his virtues gewgaws of noTake it, and perish, but restrain your He wore them as fine traijpiugs for aCharge not, with Ught sufQcient and show, [beau.left free. A praying, synagogue -frequentingYour \vilful suicide on God's decree. The self-applauding bird, the pea-Oh, how unlike the complex works cock, see— [heof man, [plan! Mark what a sumptuous Pharisee isHeaven's easy, artless, uuencumber'd Meridian sunbeams tempt him to un-No meretricious graces to beguile, fold [gold:No clustering ornaments to clog the His radiant glories, azure, green, andpile [free. He treads as if, some solemn musicProm ostentation as from weakness near, []hia ear,It stands like the cerulean arch we see, —His measured step were governed byMajestic in its own simplicity. And seems to say \"Ye meaner fowl,Inscribed above the portal, from afar give placeConspicuous as the brightness of a star. I am all splendour, dignity, and grace!\"Legible only by the light they give. Not so the pheasant on his charmsStand the soul -quickening words presumes, Believe asd Live. Though he, too, has a glory in hiaToo many, shock'd at what should plumes. charm them most, He, Christian-like, retreats with modestDespise the plain direction and are lost. mienHeaven on such terms ! they cry with To the close copse or far-sequester'd proud disdain, green.Incredible, impossible, and vain! And shines without desiring to ha seen.Kebel, because 'tis easy to obey. The plea of works, as arrogant and vain. Heaven turns fi'om with abhorrenceAnd scorn for its own sake the graciousway, aud disdain:

—; ; —\";; ; ;: TRUTH.Not more affronted by avow'd neglect, Pride has attain'd its most luxuriantThan by the mere dissembler's feign'd growth,respect. [vise, And poison'd every virtue in them both.What is all righteousness that men de- Pride may be pamper'd v/hile the flesh\Vhat, but a sordid bargain for the grows leanskies? [own, Humility may clothe an English dean—But Christ as soon would abdicate His That grace was Cowper's his, con-As stoop from heaven to sell the proud fess'd by all [second stall.a throne. [rock Though placed in golden Durham'sHis dwelling a recess in some rude Not all the plenty of a bishop's board,Book, beads, and maple dish, his His palace, and his lacqueys, and \"mymeagre stock [dress'd. Lord ! [vice.In shirt of hair and weeds of canvas More nourish pride, that condescendingGirt with a bell-rope that the Pope has Than abstinence, and beggary, and licebless'd [crime. It thrives in miserj', and abundantAdust with stripes told out for every grows, [impose.And sore tormented, long before his In misery fools upon themselvestime, [not aid. But why before us Protestants pro-His prayer preferred to saints that can- duceHis praise postponed, and never to be An Indian mystic or a French recluse ?paid; [mired. Their sin is plain ; but what have weSee the sage hermit, by mankind ad- to fear, [shall hear.With all that bigotry adopts inspired, Heform'd and well instructed? ~You\"Wearing out life in his religious whim, Yon ancient prude, whose wither'dI Till his religious whimsy wears out features show [ago,him. [allowVl, She might be young, some forty yearsHis works, his abstinence, his zeal Her elbows pinion'd close upon herYou think him humble—God accounts hips,him proud. [tence, Her head erect, her fan upon her lips.High in demand, though lowly in pre- Her eyebrows arch'd, her eyes bothOf all his conduct this the genuine gone a.stray [i lay.sense [blood, To watch yon amorous couple in their\" My penitential stripes, my streaming With bony and unkerchiefd neck do-Have purchased heaven, and prove my flestitle good.\" [apply The rude inclemency of wintry skies,Turn eastward now, and fancy shall And sails with lappet head and mincingTo your weak sight her telescopic eye. airsThe Brahmin kindles on his own bare Duly at clink of bell to morning prayers.head To thrift and parsimony much inclined,The sacred flre. self-torturing his trade She yet allows herself that boy behindHis voluntary pains, severe and long. The shivering urchin, bending as hoWould give a barbarous air to British goes, [his nose.song. With slipshod heels, and dewdrop atNo grand inquisitor could worse invent His predecessor's coat advanced toThan he contrives to suffer, well con- wear, [share.tent, [two? Which future pages yet are doom'd toWhich is the saintlier worthy of the Carries her Bible tuck'd beneath hi3Past all dispute, you anchorite, say you. arm, [warm.Your sentence and mine differ. What's And hides his hands to keep his fingersa name ? She, half anangel in her own account.I say the Brahmin has the fairer claim. Doubts not hereafter with the saints toIf sufferings Scripture nowhere recom- mount, [search.mends, Though not a grace appears on strictestDevised by self to answer selfish ends, But that she fasts, and Hem, goes toGive saintship, then all Europe must church. [youth.agree [he. Conscious of age, she recollects herTen starveling hermits suffer less than And tells, not always with an eye toThe truth is, (if the truth may suit truth, [where'er he came.your ear. Who spann'd her waist, and who,And prejudice have left a passage Scrav.i'd upon glass Miss Bridgetsclear,) lovely name.

—• ; : :; ; ; ; :;86 COWPEE'S POEMS.Who Btole her slipper, fill'd it with His utmost he can render is but small, The principle and motive all in all. tokay, —You have two servants, Tom, an arch,And drank the little bumper every day.Of temper as envcuom'd as an asp, sly rogue, [vogue,Censorious, and her every word a wasp,In faithful memory she records the From top to toe the Geta now incrimes, Genteel in figure, easy in address, Moves without noise, and swift as anOr real, or fictitious, of the times; expi'ess, [grace,Laughs at the reputations she has torn.And holds them dangling at arm's Eeports a message with a pleasing Expert in all the duties of his place;length in scorn. [pride, Say, on what hinge does his obedienceSuch are the fruits of sanctimonious move ?Of malice fed while flesh is mortified —Has he a world of gratitude and love?Take, madam, the reward of all your No, not a sparli 'tis all mere sharper'sprayers, [meet with theirs play; [and your pay;Where hermits and where Brahmins He likes your house, your housemaid,Your portion is with them; nay, never —Eeduce his wages, or get rid of her,frown, [down. Tom quits j-ou, with \" Your most , obedient, sir.\" [usual stand,But, if you please, some fathoms lower—Artist, attend! your brushes and The dinner served, Charles takes hisyour paint [a Saint. Watches your eye, anticiijates com-Produce them—take a chair—now draw mand, [fail,Oh, sorrowful and sad ! the streaming Sighs, if perhaps your appetite should tears And if he but suspects a frown, turnsChannel her cheeks— a Niobeappears! pale [ease.—Is this a saml? Throw tints and all Consults all day your interest and your away Eichly rewarded if he can but please,True piety is cheerful as the day. And, proud to make his firm attach-Will weep, indeed, and heave a pitying ment known, [own.groan [own. To save your life would nobly risk hisFor others' woes, but smiles upon her Now which stands kighest iu yourWhat pui-pose has the King of serious thoughts ? [so he oughtsaints in view ? [dew ? Charles, without doubt, say you—andWhy falls the gospel like a gracious One act, that from a thankful heartTo call up plenty from the teeming proceeds. Excels ten thousand mercenary deeds.earth, [dearth ? Thus Heaven approves as honest andOr curse the desert with a tenfoldIs it that Adam's offspruig may be sincere [fear;saved [enslaved ? The work of generous love and filialFrom servile fear, or be the more But with averted eyes the omniscientTo loose the links that gall'd mankind Judge [drudge.before, [more? Scorns the base hireling and the slavishOr bind them faster on, and add still Where dwell these matchless saints?The free-born Chrietian has no chains old Curio cries [eyes to prove. Even at your side, sir, and before yourOr, if a chain, the golden one of love: The favom-'d few—the enthusiasts youNo fear attends to quench his glowing despise. [groundfires, [spires. And pleased at heart because on holyV/hat fear he feels his gratitude in- Sometimes a canting hypocrite isShaU he, for such deliverance freely found,wrought, [thought. Eeproach a people with his single fall,Eocompenso ill? He trembles at the And cast his lilthy raiment at them all. Attend,— an apt similitude shall showllis master's interest and his own Whence springs the conduct thatcombined [and mindPrompt evai-y movement of his heart offends you so. [ing plain.Thought, word, and deed, his liberty See where it smokes along the sound- evince. Blown all aslant, a driving, dashingHis freedom is the freedom of a prince. rain. Man's obligation's infinite, of course Peal upon peal redoubling all around,His life should prove that ho perceives Shakes it again and faster to thetheir force ground

— —! ; ; !: ; ; ;; ; TRUTH. S7Now flashing wide, now glancing as in Some lead a life unblamable and just'Piay, Their own dear virtue their unshakenSwift beyond thought the lightnings trust: —[steed, They never sin or if (as all offend)dart away.Ere yet it came the traveller urged his Some trivial slips their daily walkAnd hurried, but with unsuccessful attend, [is small.speed: The poor are near at hand, the chargeANow drench'd throughout, and hope- hght gratuity atones for all. less of his case. For though the Pope has lost his inte-He drops the rein, and leaves him to rest here, [were.his pace. [rude, And pardons are not sold as once theySuppose, nnlook'd for in a scene so No Papist more desirous to compound.Long hid by interposing hill or wood, Than some grave sinners upon EnglishSome mansion neat and elegantly ground. [seekdress'd, [sess'd, That plea refuted, other quirks theyBy some kind hospitable heart pos- Mercy is infinite, and man is weak;Offer him warmth, security, and rest; The future shall obliterate the past.Think with what pleasure, safe, and at And Heaven no doubt shall be theirhis ease, [trees. home at last. [your earHe hears the tempest howling in the Come, then— a still, small whisper inWhat glowing thanks his lips and He has no hope who never had a fearheart employ, [joy. And he that never doubted of his state,—\"While danger past is tum'd to present He may perhaps perhaps he maySo fares it with the sinner, when he too late. [a snare.feels [heels The path to bliss abounds with manyA growing dread of vengeance at his Learning is one, and wit, however rare.His conscience, like a glassy lake be- The Frenchman, first in literary fame,fore, [roar; (Jlentiou him, if you jjlease. Voltaire ?Lash'd into foaming waves, begins to the same.)The law grown clamorous, though With spirit, genius, eloquence supplied,silent long, [wrong. Lived long, wrote much, laugh'dArraigns him, charges him V7ith every heartily, and diedAsserts the right of his offended Lord, The Scripture was his jest-book, whenceAnd death, or restitution, is the word: he drewThe last impossible, he fears the first. Boil- mots to gall the Christian and theAnd, having well deserved, expects the Jew [sick '?worst. [home. An iufldel in health, but what when—Then welcome refuge and a peaceful Oh then a text would touch him to theOh for a shelter from the wrath to come quick;Crush me, ye rocks! ye falling moun- View him at Paris in his last career.tains, hide! Surrounding throngs the demigod re-Or bury me in ocean's angry tide I Exalted on his pedestal of pride, [vere;The scrutiny of those all-seeing eyes And fumed with frankincense on every—I dare not And you need not, God re- side, [breath, plies He begs their flattery with his latest ; And smother'd in't at last is praised toThe remedy you want I freely give death. [door,—The Book shall teach you read, be-lieve, and live Yon cottager, who weaves at her own'Tis done— the raging storm is heard Pillow p.nd bobbins all her little storeno more, Content though mean, and cheerful ifMercy receives him on her peaceful not gay, [day,shore, [command. ShufHing her threads about the livelongAnd Justice, guardian of the dread Just earns a scanty pittance, and atDrops the red vengeance from his night [light;willing hand. [praise Lies down secure, her heart and pocketA soul redeem'd demands a life of She, for her humble sphere by natm'eHence the complexion of his future fit,days, [speok'd, Has little understanding, and no wit;Hence a demeanour holy and un- Eeceives no praise, but, though her lotAnd the world's hatred, as its sure be such, [mucheffect. (Toilsome and indigent,) she renders

—:: ; ; ! ; !:; ; : :!;83 COWPEK'S POEMS.JuBt knows, and knows no more, her The light they walk by, kindled fromBible true [knew above.A truth the brilliant Frenchman never Shews them the shortest way to lifeAnd in that charter reads, with spark- and love: [field.ling eyes, They, strangers to the controversialHer title to a treasure in the skies. Where deists, always foil'd, yet scorn O happy peasant ! O unhappy bard to yield, [wise.His the mere tinsel, hers the rich re- And never check'd by what impedes theward ; [come. Believe, rush forward, and possess theHe praised perhaps for ages yet to prize. [smallShe never heard of half-a-mUe from Envy, ye great, the dull unletter'd home Ye have much cause for envy —but notHe lost in errors his vara heart prefers, all. [gospel sways,She safe in the simplicity of hers. Not many wise, rich, noble, or pro- We boast some rich ones whom the And one who wears a coronet andfound [ground prays [showIn science, win one inch of heavenly Like gleanings of an orange-tree, they Here and there one upon the topmostAnd is it not a mortifying thoughtThe poor should gain it, and the rich bough. —should not ? How readily, upon the gospel plan.No the voluptuaries, who ne'er forget —The question has its answer, What isOne pleasure lost, lose heaven without man ? [wretch,regret; Sinful and weak, in every sense aEegret would rouse them and give birth An instrument whose chord's uponto prayer, the stretch, [can bear,Prayer would add faith, and faith would And strain'd to the last screw that he fix them there. Yield only discord in his Maker's ear; Not that the Former of us all in this. Once the blest residence of truth di-Or aught He does, is govem'd by vine.caprice Glorious as Solyma's interior shrine.The supposition is replete with sin. Where, in his own oracular abode.And bears the brand of blasphemy Dwelt visibly the light-creating God; But made long since, like Babylon ofburnt in. [callNot so— the silver trumpet's heavenly old,Somids for the poor, but sounds alike A den of mischiefs never to be toldfor all And she, once mistress of the realmsKings are invited, and wouldkings obey. around, [found.No slaves on earth more welcome were Now scatter'd wide and nowhere to bethan they As soon shall rise and reascend theBut royalty, nobility, and state, throne,Are such a dead preponderating weight. By native power and energy her own.That endless bliss, (how slrange soe'er As Nature, at her own peculiar cost. Restore to man the glories he has lost.It seem,) [beam.In counterpoise, flies up and kicks the Go, bid the winter cease to chill the—'Tis open, and ye cannot enter why? year, [sphere,Because ye will not, Conyers would Eeplace the wandering comet in his Then boast (but wait for that unhoped-reply— [puteAnd he says much that many may dis- for hour)And cavU at with ease, but none refute. The self-restoring arm of human power. But what is man in his own proudOh, bless'd effect of penury and want.The seed sown there, how vigorous is esteem? [theme: the plant Hear him, himself the poet and theNo soil Hke poverty for growth divine. A monarch clothed with majesty andAs leanest land supplies the richest awe, [lawwine. His mind his kingdom, and his will hiaEarth gives too little, giving only bread, Grace in his mien, and glory in hisTo nourish pride, or turn the weakest eyes, [skies,head [schools Supreme on earth, and worthj of theTo them the sounding jargon of the Strength in his heart, dominion in hisSeems what it is— a cap and bells for nod, [godfools: And, thunderbolts excepted, quite a

—: ; : !! ;; TRUTH.So sings he. charm' J with his own That field of promise, how it flinga—mind and form, [worm abroad [road IThe song magnificent the theme a Its odour o'er the Christian's thornyHimself bo much the source of his The soul, reposing on assured relief.delight, Feels herself happy amidst all her grief,His Maker has no beauty in his sight. Forgets her labour as she toils along,See where he sits, contemplative and Weeps tears of joy, and bursts into afli'd, [\"'ix'd, song. [polish'd share.Pleasure and wonder in his features But the same word that, like theHis passions tamed and all at his con- Ploughs up the roots of a believer'strol, [soul care, [they grow,How perfect the composure of his KUls too the flowery weeds, where'erComplacency has breathed a gentle gale That bind the sinner's bacchanalianO'er all his thoughts, and swell'd his brow. [love,easy sail [gayest style. Oh, that unwelcome voice of heavenlyHis books well trimm'd aud in the Sad messenger of mercy from above,Like regimental coxcombs rank and How does it grate upon his thanklessfile, ear, [of fear !Adorn his intellects as well as shelves. Crippling his pleasures with the crampAnd teach him notions splendid as His will and judgment at continualthemselves strife.The Bible only stands neglected there, That civil war embitters all his life;Though that of all most worthy of his In vain he points his powers againstcare; the skies,And, like an infant troublesome awake, In vain he closes or averts his eyes.la left to sleep for peace and quiet sake. Truth will intrude— she bids liiiu yetWhat shall the man deserve of beware [chair.humankind, [bined And shakes the sceptic in the scoruer'sWhose happy skill and industry com- Though various foes against the TruthShall prove (what argument could combine,never yet) Pride above all opposes her design:The Bible an imposture and a cheat ? Pride, of a growth superior to the rest,The praises of the libertine profess'd, The subtlest serpent with the loftiestThe worst of men, and curses of the crest, [into rage.best. [his woes. Swells at the thought, and. kindlingWhere should the living, weeping o'er Would hiss the cherub Mercy from theThe dying, trembling at the awful close. stage. [cries,Where the betray'd, forsaken, and —Aud is the soul indeed so lost ? sheoppress'd, Fallen from her glory, and too weakThe thousands whom the world for- to rise'?bids to rest. Torpid and dull beneath a frozen zone, iWhere should they tlud, (those com- Has she no spark that may be deem'dforts at an end [a friend ? her own?The Scripture yields,) or hope to find. Grant her indebted to what zealots callSorrow might muse herself to madness Grace undeserved, yet surely not for allthen, [men. Some beams of rectitude she yet dis-And, seeking exile from the sight of plays, [to praiseBury herself in solitude profound. Some love of virtue, and some powerGrow frantic with her pangs, and bite Can lift herself above corporeal things,the ground. And, soaring on her own uuboiTOw'dThus often UnbeUef, grown sick of life. wings, [true,Flies to the tempting pool, or felon Possess herself of all that's good orknife. Assert the skies, and vindicate her due.The jury meet, the coroner is short, Past indiscretion is a venial crimeAnd lunacy the verdict of the court. And if the youth, unmellow'd yet byHe verse the sentence, let the truth be time, [and rude.known. Bore on his branch, luxuriant thenSuch lunacy is ignorance alone Fruits of a bhghted size, austere andThey knew not, what some bishops crude, [duce,may not know, [woe Maturer years shall happier stores pro-That Scripture is the only cure of And meliorate the weU-concocted juice.

—! : ; !;00 COWPER'S POEMS.Then, conscious of her meritorious Led them, however faltering, faint, andzeal, [appeal. slow,To Justice she may make her bold From what they knew to what theyAnd leave to Mercy, -with a tranquil wish'd to know. [ciiiy,mind, [Icind. But let not him that shares a brighterThe worthless and unfruitful of man- Traduce the splendour of a noontideHear, then, how Mercy, slighted and ray,defied, [of Pride. Prefer the twilight of a darker time.Ketorts the affront against the crown And deem his base stupidity no crime;Perish the virtue, as it ought, The wretch, who slights the bounty ofabhorr'd, [Lord. the skies, [means to rise.And the fool with it who insults his And sinks while favour'd with theThe atonement a Eedeemer's love has Shall flad them rated at their full—wrought [not. amoimt, [account.Is not for you the righteous need it The good he ecorn'd all carried toSeest thou yon harlot, wooing all she Marshalling all His terrors as Hemeets. came, [ing flame.The wurn-out nuisance of the public Thunder, and earthquake, and devour-streets. From Siuai's top Jehovah gave theHerself from morn to night, from law [flaw.night to morn, [your scorn : Life for obedience, death for everyHer own abhorrence, and as much When the great Sovereign would HisThe gracious shower, tmlimited and will express, [less ?free, [it thee. He gives a perfect rule, what can HeShall fall on her, wheu Heaven denies And guards it mth a sanction as severeOf all that wisdom dictates, this the As vengeance can inflict, or sinnersdrift- fear: [disclaim,That man is dead in sin, and life a gift. Else His own glorious rights He would Is virtue, then, unless of Christian And man might safely trifle with Hisgrowth. name.Mere fallacy, or foolishness, or both ? He bids him glow with unremitting loveTen thousand ages lost in endless woe. To all on earth, and to Himself aboveFor ignorance of what they could not Condemns the injurious deed, theknow? [tongue; slanderous tongue, [wrong:That speech betrays at once a bigot's The thought that meditates a brother sCharge not a God with such outrageous Brings not alone the more conspicuouswrong [have, part, [heart.—Trul3', not I the partial light men His conduct, to the test, but tries hisMy creed persuades me. well employ'd, Hark! universal nature shook andmay save; [beam, perverse, groan'd, [enthroned—While he that scorns the noonday 'Twas the last trumpet see the JudgeShall find the blessmg unimproved a House all your courage at your utmostcurse. [mind need, [plead.Let heathen worthies, whose exalted Now summon every virtue, stand andLeft sensuality and dross behind, What I silent? Is yoiu- boasting heardPossess for me their undisputed lot. no more ? [before.And take unenvied the reward they That self-renouncing wisdom, learn'dsought. Had shed immortal glories on yourBut still in virtue of a Saviour's plea. brow. [now.Not blind by choice, but destined not to That all your virtues cannot purchasesee. All joy to the believer ! He can speak,Their fortitude and wisdom were a flame TrembUng yet happy, confident yetCelestial, though they knew not whence meek.it came, [and grace. Since the dear hour that brought meDerived from the same source of light to Thy foot,That guides the Christian in his swifter myAnd cut up all follies by the root, race. I never trusted in an arm but Thine,Their judge was Conscience, and her Nor hoped but in Thy rigL*eousues3rule their law: divine [defiled,That rule, pursued mth reverence and Jly prayers and alms, imperfect andwith awe, Were but the feeble efforts of a child

—;; :; ; ; ;; ; ; EXPOSTULATION. 91Howe'er perform'd, it was their While struggling in the vale of tears below,brightest part, [heart meThat never faii'd, nor shall it failThat they proceeded from a grateful now.Cleansed in Thine own all-purifying Angelic gratulations rend the skies,blood, Pride falls unpitied, never more to rise, Humihty is crowu'd, and Faith receivesForgive theirevil and accept their good: the prize.I east them at Thy feet— my only pleaIs what it was, dependence upon Thee EXPOSTULATION. AIiaUMENT.—Expostulation with the Muse weeping for England Her apparently prosperous — —condition State of Israel when the prophet wept over it The Babylonian —captivity— \"VvTien nations decline, the evil commences in the Church State —of the Jews in the tmie of our Saviour Evidences of their having been the — —most favoured of nations Causes of their dowmfal! Lesson taught by it —V/arning to Britain The hand of Providence to be traced in adverse — — —events England's transgression.s Her vain-glory Her conduct towards — — —India Abuse of the sacrament OlJduracy against repentance Futility of — —fasts Character of the Clergj' The poet adverts to the state of the ancient — —Britons Beneficial influence of the Eoman power England under papal —supremacy—Favours bestowed on her by Providence Seasons for grati- —tude to God and for seeking to secure His favour With that she may defy —a world in arms The poet anticipates little efiect from his warning.Why weeps the Muse for England? But age, in spite of weakness and ofWhat appears [tears ? pain.In England's case to move the Muse to Still haunts, in hope to dream ofFrom side to side of her delightful isle —youth again [look roundIs she not clothed with a perpetual All speak her happy: let the Muse smile? From east to west, no sorrow ca,a beCan Nature add a charm, or Art confer found;A new-found luxury not seen in her ? Or only what in cottages confined.Where under heaven is pleasure more Sighs unregarded to the passing wind.pursued, [intrude ? Then wherefore weep for England?Or where does cold reflection less What appears [to tears ?Her fields a rich expanse of wavy corn In England's case to move the Muse toPour'd out from Plenty's overflowing The prophet wept for Israel, wish'dhorn [plies his eyes [plies;Ambrosial gardens, in which Art sup- Were fountains fed with infinite sup-The fervour and the force of Indian For Israel dealt in robbery and wi'ong;skies [Commerce waits There were the scoruer's and theHer peaceful shores, where busy slanderer's tongue [tools,To pour his golden tide through aU her Oaths, used as playthings or convenientgates [spice As interest biassed knaves, or fashionWhom fiery suns that scorch the russet fools; [door;^f eastern gi'oves, and oceans floor'd Adultery, neighing at his neighbour'swith ice. Oppression, labouring hard to grind theForbid in vain to push his daring way poor [weightTo darker climes, or climes of brighter The partial balance and deceitfulday; [billows roll, The treacherous smile, a mask forWTiom the winds waft where'er the secret hateFrom the world's girdle to the frozen Hypocrisy, formality in prayer.pole; [worn streets: And the dull service of the lip wasthere.The chariots bounding in her wheel- Her women, insolent and self-caress'd.Her vaults below, where every vintage By Vanity's unwearied finger dress'd,meets; Forgot the blush that virgin fearsHer theatres, her revels, and her sports impartThe scenes to which not youth alone To modest cheeks, and borrow'd oneresorts. I from art

—; ::: ; ; : ; ; :;;;;92 COWPEE'S POEMS.Were just such trifles, without worth When nations are to perish in theiror use, sins,As silly pride and idleness produce; 'Tis in the church the leprosy begins:Currd,scented,fnrbelow'd,audflounced The priest, whose oSice is, with zealaround, [ground, sincere, [clear.With feet too delicate to touch the To watch the fountain and preserve itThey stretch\"d the neck, and roU'd the Carelessly nods and sleeps upon the•wanton eye, [by. brink, [must drinkAnd sigh'd \"for every fool that flutter'd While others poison what the flockHe saw his people slaves to every lust. Or, waking at the call of lust alone,Lewd, avaricious, arrogant, unjust; Infuses lies and errors of his ownHe heard the wheels of an avenging God His unsuspecting sheep believe it pureGroan heavily along the distant road And. tainted by the very means of cure,Saw Babylon set wide her two-leaved Catch from each other a contagious spot,To let the military deluge pass ; [brass The foul forerunner of a general rot.Jerusalem a prey, her glorj' soil'd, Then Truth is hush'd, that Heresy mayHer princes captive, and her treasures preach [reach spoil'd: And all is trash that Eeason cannotWept till all Israel heard his bitter cry, Then God's own image on the soul im-Stamp'd with his foot, and smote upon press'd [jest:his thigh [thigh in vain, Becomes a mockery and a standing And faith, the root whence only canBut wept, and stamp'd, and smote hisPleasure is deaf when told of future pain. arise [skies.And sounds prophetic are too rough to The graces of a life that wins thesuit [lute Loses at once all value and esteem.Ears long accustom'd to the pleasing Pronounced by graybeards a perniciousThey scorn'd his inspiration and his dreamtheme, La dream Then Ceremony leads her bigots forth,Pronounced him frantic, and his fears Prepared to fight for shadows of noWith self-indulgence wing'd the fleering worth, [depend,hours, [the towers. While truths, on which eternal thingsTill the foe found them, and down fell Find not, or hardly find, a single friendLongtime Assyria bound them in her As soldiers watch the signal of com-chain, [stain. mand, [standTill penitence had purged the public They leam to bow, to kneel, to sit, toAnd Cyrus with relenting pity moved, Happy to fill religion's vacant placeEetum'd them happy to the land they With hollow form, and gesture, andlov\"d; grimace.There, proof against prosperity, a while Such,when the Teacher of His ChurchThey stood the test of her ensnaring was there,smUe, [to show People and priest, the sons of IsraelAnd had the grace in scenes of peace were,The virtue they had learn'd in scenes StiC in the letter, lax in the designof woe. And import of their oracles divine.But man is frail, and can but ill sustain Their learning legendary, false, absurd,A long immunity from grief and pain: And yet exalted above God's own Word,And, afterall the joys that Plenty leads, They drew a curse from an intendedWith tiptoe step Vice silently succeeds. good, [stood.When He that ruled them with a Puff'd up with gifts they never uuder-shepherd's rod. He judged them with as terrible aInform a man, in dignity a God. [guise. frown.Came, not eipected, in that humble As if not love, but wrath had broughtTo sift and search them with unerring Him down eyes. Yet He was gentle as soft summer airs. Had grace for other's sins, but noneHe found, conceal'd, a fair outside.The fllth of rottenness and worm of for theirs [ran ;pride. Through all He spoke a noble 'plainnessTheir piety a system of deceit. Ehetoric is artifice, the work of manScripture employ'd to sanctify the cheat, And tricks and turns that fancy may IThe Pharisee the dupe of his own art, devise. [\"skies.Self-idolized, and yet a knave at heart. I Are far too mean for Him that rules the

d; ; ; ;; ; ;; EXPOSTULATION. 93The astonish'd vulgar trembled while For them the rocks dissolved into aHe tore flood,The mask from faces never seen before; The dews condensed into angelic food,He stripp'd the impostors in the noon- Their very garments sacred,old yet new.tide sun, [seem'd to shun And Time forbid to touch them as heShew'd that they followed all they flew,Their prayers made public, their ex- Streams, swell'd above the bank, en-cesses kept [they slept; join'd to stand,As private as the chambers where \"While they pass'd through to their ap-The temple and its holy rites profaned pointed land [and love.By mummeries He that dwelt in it dis- Their leader arm'd with meekness, zealdaiu'd [times, And gi'aced with clear credentials fromUplifted hands, that, at convenient above;Could act estortion and the worst of Themselves secured beneath thecrimes, [nice, Almightj' wing;Wash'd with a neatness scrupulously Their God their captain, lawgiver, andAnd free from every taint but that of king; [at lastvice. [pace Crown'd with a thousand victories, andJudgment, however tardy, mends her Lords of the conquerd soil, there rootedWhen obstinacy once has conquered fast, [war,grace. [restored, In peace possessing what they won byThey saw distemper heal'd and life Their name far publish'd, and reveredIn answer to the flat of His word, as far; [endow'dConfess'd the wonder, and with daring \"Where will you find a race like their.=i,tongue [it sprung. With all that man e'er wish'd, orBlasphemed the authority from which heaven bestow'd? [mankind,They knew, by sure prognostics seen on They, and they only, amongst all high. Keceived the transcript of the EternalThe future tone and temper of the sky Mind, [laws,But, grave dissemblers ! could not un- Were trusted with His own engravenderstand [at hand. And constituted guardians of His causeThat sin let loose spe8,ks punishment Theirs were the prophets, theirs theAsk now of historj''s authentic page. priestlj' call, [all.And call up evidence from every age And theirs by birth the Saviour of usDisplay with busy and laborious hand In vain the nations, that had seen themThe blessings of the most indebted rise [eyes.land ; [nals prove With flerce and envious, yet admiring.\"What nation will you find whose an- Had sought to crush them, guarded asSo rich an interest in Almighty love ? they were [not err.\"Where dwell they now, where dwelt in By power divine and skill that could ancient day, Had they maintain'dallegianceflrm andA people planted,water'd, blest as they? sure, [pure.Let Egypt's plagues and Canaan's woes And kept the faith Immaculate andproclaim [name, Then the proud eagles of all-conqueringThe favours pour'd upon the Jewish RomeTheir freedom purchased for them at Had found one city not to be o'ercome.the cost [most; And the twelve standards of the tribesOf all their hard oppressors valued unfurl'Their title to a counti-y not their own Had bid deflance to the warring world.Made sure by prodigies till then un- But grace abused brings forth the known;For them the states they left made foulest deeds, [weeds; waste and void, As richest soil the most luxuriantFor them the states to which they went Cured of the golden calves, their fathers' sin,destroy\"d; [day, They set up self, that idol god within Yiew'd a Deliverer with disdain andA cloud to measure out their march byBy night a fire to cheer the gloomy way, hate.That moving signal summoning, when Who left them still a tributary stat« best. Seized fast His hand, held out to setTheir host to move, and when it stay'd, them free [the tree.to rest; From a worse yoke, and nail'd it to

; ;; ; : ; :;;! ; —;94 COWPER'S POEMS.There was the consummation and the Thy Levites, once a consecrated host, No longer Levites, and theu' lineagecrown,The flower of Israel's infamy full blown; lost, [sown,Thence date their sad declension, and And thou thyself o'er every couuli-ytheir fall, [them all. With none on earth that thou canstTheir woes, not yet repeal'd, thence date call thine own;Thus feU the best instructed iu her Cry aloud , thou that sittest in the dust, Cry to the proud, the cruel, and unjust,day, [we may. Knock at the gates of nations, rouseAnd the most fayour'd land, look wherePhilosophy indeed on Grecian eyes their fears, [appearsHad pour'd the day, and clear'd the Say wrath is coming, and the storm Koman skies But raise the shrillest cry in Britishears.In other climes perhaps creative art,With power surpassing theirs, per- What ails thee, restless as the waves that roar, [shore ?form'd her part; [might fill And fling their foam against thy chalkyMight give more hfe to marble, or Mistress, at least, while ProvidenceThe glowing tablets with a juster skill shall please, [seas,Might shine in fable, and grace idle And trident-bearing queen of the widethemes [dreams Why, having kept good faith, and oftenWith all the embroideiy of poetic shown [thou none ?'Twas theirs alone to dive into the plan Friendship and truth to others, find'st Thou that hast set the persecuted free.That truth and mercy had reveal'd to None interposes now to succour thee.man [unknown.And while the world beside, that plan Countries indebted to thy power, thatDeified useless wood or senseless stone, shine [smother thine;They breathed in faith their well- With light derived from thee, woulddirected prayers, [was theirs. The very children watch for thy dis-And the true God, the God of truth. grace, [faceTheir glory faded, and their race dis- A lawless brood, and curse thee to thypersed, [the first, Thy rulers load thy credit, year by year,The last of nations now, though once With sums Peruvianmines could neverThey warn and teach the proudest, clear, [hand.would they learn. As if, like arches built with skilful The more 'twere press'd the firmer itKeep wisdom, or meet vengeance in your turn would stand.If we escaped not, if Heaven spared The cry in all thy ships is still the same.not us, Speed us away to battle and to fame! Thy mariners explore the wild expanse.Peel'd.scatter'd, and exterminated thusIf Vice received her retribution due. Impatient to descrj- the flags of France:When we were visited, what hope for But, though they fight as thine have you? ever fought, [they sought.When God arises with an awful frown. Eeturn ashamed without the wreathsTo punish lust, or pluck presumtion Thy senate is a scene of civil jar.down [prized, Chaos of contrarieties at war, [light Where sharp and solid, phlegmatic andV.^'hen gifts perverted, or not dulyPleasure o'ervalued, and His grace Discordant atoms meet, ferment, anddespised, [hand fight [stand.Provoke the vengeance of His righteous Where Obstinacy takes his sturdyTo pour down wrath upon a thankless To disconcert what Policy has plann'd; laud Where PoHcy is busied all night longHe will be found impartially severe. In setting right what Faction has setToo just to wink, or speak the guilty wrong; [floor. clear. Where flaOs of oratory thresh the O Israel, of all nations most undone That j-ields them chaff and dust, andThy diadem displaced, thy sceptre gone. nothing more. [plain,Thy temple, once thy glory, fall'n and Thy rack'd inhabitants repine, com-razed, [thou may'st Tax'd till the brow of Labour sweats iuAnd thou a worshipper, e'en v,-hcre vainThy services, once holy without spot. War lays a burden on the reeling state,Mere shadows now, their ancient pomp And peace does nothing to relieve theforgot woi^hi;