No More Learning

Can comeliness of form, or shape, or air,
With comeliness of words and deeds compare
No! those at first th' unwary heart may gain:
But these, these only, can that heart retain.
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? 91
VERSIFICATION.
Lines to be made into Iambic Virses of eight sylla-
bles, orfour feet, with the accent on the second, fourth,
sixth, and eighth syllables: -- each line to make one
verse; and the two lines of each couplet to rhime with
each other.
Ill
And, while I feel thy gracious gifts,
My song shall reveal all thy praise.
112
Bless'd with freedom, at early dawn,
O'er the verdant lawn I wander.
113
Unheard I mourn, I sigh unknown,
Live unfriended, die unpity'd.
114
The fleecy mothers stray'd below ;
And their sportive lambkins play'd round.
11. 5
My friend, thy days flow serenely,
Nor know any interruption.
116
Tke search shall teach thee to prize life,
And make thee good, wise, and grateful.
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? 92 Versification
117
The flock fly in wild disorder,
And cast a frequent eye behind.
118
At last the contest rose so high,
From words they almost came to blows.
119
Religion's beams shine around thee,
And cheer thy glooms with divine light.
120
Henceforih I go to rural haunts,
Through winter's snow and summer's heat.
121
Thou fly'st to scenes where Joy and Youth
Employ their time with Love and Mirth.
122
With ease jou wear a thousand shapes;
And still you please in ev'ry shape.
123
Leander bow'd to Hero's eyes:
Her cheek glow'd with yielding blushes.
124
The Muse, ever true to merit,
Prepares the meed due to valour.
125
We raise the choral song to thee,
To whom belong sublimer strains.
126
Supine beneath embow'iing shades,
In wine he loves to drown his cares.
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? Versification. 95
187
The impatient. steed spurns the ground :
The full-ton'd horns sound harmonious.
128
Neither wealth [ pursue, nor pow'r,
Nor hold in view forbidden joys.
129
And will you then conceal this wealth,
For time to steal, or age to rust ?
130
Observant eyes confess her ways:
Pursuing praises bless her steps.
131
The tim'rous breed knew the robber,
And flew o'er the meadow, trembling.
The wolf o'ertook their nimblest speed,
And courteous thus bespoke the dam.
132
The genial hours and fragrant airs"
Were shedding dews arid flow'rs round him :
Aurora pass'd before his wheels;
And last was Hesper's golden lamp.
153
Their board is crown'd with flow'rs by thee; *
Their walks resound with songs by thee;
Their sprightly mornings shine by thee,
And ev'ning hours decline in peace.
* N. B. Thee, thee, terminating two successive lines, will not
make allowable rhime.
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? 94
Hcation.
Iambic Verses of eight syllables, with a mixture of
different feet.
134
Repose, sweet babe ! cease thy crying :
For thine's an age of peace and truth.
135
Without another word, this fact
Might afford a useful lesson.
13(i
Ever bound to one dear object,
l ever search around for that.
Thousands bena, Where'er she passes;
And thousand's attend where she moves.
138
The flow'rs, disclos'd in early bloom,
Repos'd upon, her fragrant breast.
139
A mother may forsake her son:
But I will ne'er break my covenant.
140
As a simple swain, one ev'ning,
Attended his flock on the plain,
He chanc'd to spy the shining bow,
Which warns us when a show'r is nigh.
141
From the north if Winter bellow,
The sweet Spring soon comes forth dancing.
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142
Disputes are far too long, though short,
When both are in the wrong alike.
143
Ye great and rich, shut not your hearts
Against the wand'rer at your gate.
144
Must I still complain of thy pow'r,
And arraign thy too partial hand ?
145
But must the kind and the gentle
Find thy fury, undistinguished ?
146
Yet base and cruel I am call'd,
Who seek to release the wretched.
147
The fox, vers'd in deeper cunning,
Rehears'd the beauties of her mind.
148 ">
Now mounting high, now sinking low,
The sailors cry, " We're lost! we're lost! "
149
Who would combine mirth and wisdom,
Should confine his stint to three cups.
150
While I thus prolong my stay here,
The silent night steals alont? , swift.
151
Now toil, thirst, and hunger, combin'd,
To wring her mind, and numb her limbs.
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? 96 Versification.
152
Malur'd to iiappier days, he may
Repay your care with filial love.
153
The cares that fill thy tale, are past:
J bewail my present troubles.
154
But ah ! what dismal and dim shade
Casts o'er the glade this strange horror ?
155
But now the rugged North no more
Pours forth half her population.
156
Through the thick mist of fears and doubts,
How hideous appears Death's fair form !
157
Lovely Health ! divinest maid ! come,
And lead me through the rural shade.
158
Tis he, who still keeps his promise,
Though he sleeps wrapp'd in Death's cold arms.
159
Hovve'er depress'd or exalted,
Be the feeling breast ever mine.
160
Alike, the vain and the foolish
Are strangers to the humane sense.
Fill'd with grief's distressful train, life
Tor ever asks the humane tear.
1
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162
Oh ! woman! loveliest work of heav'n !
Giv'n for man's solace and delight.
163
Now the eastern breeze, soft rising,
Plays through the quiv'ring trees, rustling.
164
If you scan all nature's system,
Man is the only idle thing.
165
Discourse like this claim'd attention :
Grandeur inflam'd the mother's breast.
166
So saying, he flies on the lamb.
The victim dies beneath his jaws.
167
Each well-known scene now appears dead,
The meadow green, the glassy brook.
168
They soon shall learn humility,
And discern their own emptiness.
. 169
The watchman cried, " Past twelve o' clock :"
The studious lawyer plied his brief.
170
The wretch shook with thrilling horror ;
Pale his look, and loose ev'ry joint.
171
Lend to wiser heads attention,
And from a friend learn this lesson. m
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? 98 Versification.
178 !
Still share my bosom with the Muse,
And soothe corroding care to peace.
, 173
So shall he discern right from wrong,
And learn mercy from oppression.
174
Be thou the vessel's guide, kind heav'n :
Divide the whelming waves for her.
175
Thy kindness knows no ebbing tide :
It flows like some perpetual stream.
176
Tis thine to dwell, sweet modest flow'r !
In the thorny dell, secluded.
177
Carus, worn with pain and sickness,
Sighs for morn, and chides the slow night.
178 . , ,
I raise my song in bolder notes,
To praise the deeds of Hercules.
179
When altars were dress'd to his name,
His tears confess'd that he was man.
180 . .
I survey with indignation
Such judgement and skill thrown away.
181 . >
The suhliuie Heliconian fount
Flows in rhime marvelously well.
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182
Suspend your follies, if you can,
And from a friend learn instruction.
183
We toil to find a happiness,
Which, like the wind, still avoids us.
184
His light dissolv'd those mists and clouds,
Which long involv'd our dark nation.
185
They say, a poor astrologer
Went out, one luckless day, to walk.
186
While such pursuits engage your thoughts,
You'll live an age in a few years.
187
And time, which removes all things else,
Still heightens and improves virtue.
188
He who is a fool at fifty,
Is grown far too stubborn for school.
189
Let others shine in foreign spoils :
Intrinsic excellence is thine.
190
I descried a smiling landscape,
Dress'd in the robes of summer pride.
191
Oh ! take me to some peaceful dell,
lo dwell with sweet content and thee.
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? 100 - Versification.
19<<
Night and day had now already
Held an equal sway o'er the world.
193
Thy deep abode is tremendous,
And the fury of thy flood dire.
<
194
And now, at thy side, immortal,
The beauteous captur'd bride still blooms.
195
The surgy din grows still louder;
The gale blows with wilder fury.
196
Ample pow'r and wealth attend me;
And my realms extend o'er the plains.
197 .
Alas ! thy page, poor Zimmermann !
Betrays thy age and indolence.
198
Disabled in the race, and tir'd,
Ambition's fruitless chase I quit.
199
The British banner flies aloft
To the skies in triumphant folds.
200
The Lesbian lute can charm no more,
Nor warm my once-panting bosom.
*01
Not that those prizes shine with me;
For neither fame is iruine, nor wealth.
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? Vcrsification.
202
Ask, of heav'n, virtue, health, wisdom ;
But never let wealth be thy pray'r.
203
Still there remains one more labor,
A greater perhaps than before.
204
Fear precludes the light, like a fog,
And swells the object to the sight.
205
Honorio turns from side to side,
And now burns with insatiate thirst.
206
This frightful monster came from hell i
Guilt was his name, and Sin'his sire.
207
Let virtue be ever my guide,
And preside o'er my secret thoughts.
208
The lucid waves roll along, soft,
And gently break among the rocks;
Explore the strand in playful lapse,
And waft to shore a pallid corse.
, 209
To foreign climes why do you roam,
To study modes, times, and nations--.
A science often bought dearly,
And often what nought avails you ?
210
if heav'n, wise in ev'ry purpose,
I3
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? 102 Versification.
Denies the envied lot of wealth,. ,. . .
Still true to thee, Humanity,
The good 1 cannot do, I'll wish.
211
Our pleasures must decay shortly,
And vanish away with ourselves;
But virtue shall sustain the soul,
And soothe each agonising pain.
212
See terrific Mars advance next,
Who joys in wars, uproar, ruin. --
Fear, Flight, Fury, stand beside him,
Prompt to fulfill his dread command.
213
The summer past thus in plenty;
At last revolving winter came.
The trees no more yield a shelter:
The verdure withers from the field.
214
Array'd in white, plain Innocence
Lifts her fearless head before thee :
Religion's beams shine around thee,
And cheer thy glooms with divine light.
215
The flow'rs, that deck the field, are sweet* :
The smell, the blossoms yield, is sweet:
The summer gale, that blows, is sweet;
And the rose sweet, though sweeter you.
* N. B. Sweet,,. . swut, will net be allowable rhiaae.
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? Versification.
216
When Zephyrs stray o'er the blossom,
And convey sweets along the air,
Sha'n't I inhale the fragrant breeze,
Because you breathe a sweeter gale ?
217
The much-admiring crowd, awe-struck,
Bow'd before the virgin vision ;
Gaz'd with an ever new delight,
And, at the sight, caught fresh virtue.
218
A fearful, profound, and black gulf
Appears, the bound of either world,
Leading up to light, through darkness.
Sense shuns the sight, and shrinks backward.
219
With silent tread fate steals along,
Oft'nest found in what we dread least,
Frowns with angry brow in the storm,
But strikes the blow in the sunshine.
220
All external things combine now
To make thy days shine unclouded ;
And kindly has providence shed
On thy head its choicest blessings.
221
Near him stood his fav'rite spaniel,
And shar'd his food with his master,.
Till, sated, he now lay supine,
And snoi'd away the rising fumes.
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? 104 Versification.
222
The noblest minds prove their virtue
By love, sympathy, and pity.
These, these are truly fine feelings,
And prove their owner half divine.
223
I reach my native plain once more,
Where reign all the peaceful pleasures
My longing eye devours once more
Her shady bow'rs and crystal stream.
224
Grown restive by long indulgence,
She minded no will but her own.
She'd oft scold and fret at trifles,
Then take a seat in a comer,
And, moping all the day sourly,
Disdain alike to play or work.
225
Divines confess that life's a game ;
This says, at cards, and that, at chess.
But, if we centre our views here,
I fear 'tis all a losing game.
226
The furious god of war too long
With his iron car has crush'd us,
Along our ruin'd plains has rag'd,
With his cruel stains has soil'd them,
In endless sleep has sunk our youth,
And made the widow'd virgin weep.
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? Versification. 105
227. --Virtue.
I tell unwelcome truths, indeed:
But mark well my sacred lesson:
Whoever lives at strife with me,
Loses, for life, his better friend :
Who lives in friendship's ties with me,
Finds all that's sought for by the wise,
228
I keep, with watchful diligence,
His fleecy sheep from prowling wolves ;
Secure his midnight hours at home,
And drive from his door the robber.
His breast glows with kindness for this* :
His hand bestows the food for this.
229 ?
A long farewell to Britain's isle,
Where pleasures dwell, and plenty smiles !
Ye woods all waving wide, farewell,
Ye vales attir'd in summer's pride,
Ye tow'rs, that rise in air proudly,
Ye cots, so fair and-so cleanly 1
230
But, if thou com'st with austere frown,
To nurse the brood of fear and care,,. . .
Wisdom, I disclaim thine empire,
Thou empty boast of pompous name !
Dwell in gloomy shade of cloisters ;
But never haunt my cheerful cell.
* Thii. . . this, cannot be admitted as proper rhime.
-
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? 106 Versification.
231
Let me but hope content from wealth,
Still rememb'ring it was but lent;
Spread my store to modest merit,
My hospitable door unbar,
Nor feed an idle train for pomp,
While unpitied want sues in vain.
232
A prowling cat spies the sparrow,
And expands her amber eyes wide.
Grimalkin draws near and more near;
She protends her claws, wags her tail;
Then, springing on her thoughtless prey
She hears away the shrieking bird,
233
No costly paintings grace my rooms:
The humbler print supplies their place.
My garden lies behind the house,
And opens to the southern skies. ' '
The distant hills yield gay prospects,
And, in ev'iy field, plenty'smiles.
234 ?
Would'st thou bind the gen'rous lion r
Bribe him to be kind by kindness.
He gives with multiplying hand
The good he receives from others,
Or makes fair return for the bad,
And pays scorn for scorn, with int'rest.
235
The love, that cheers life's latest stage.
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? Versification.
Proof against old age and sickness,,. . .
Is kind, delicate, and gentle,
Compassionate or blind t<> faults,
And will endure with sympathy
Those evils it would cure gladly.
. 236
The prudent nymph, whose cheeks disclose
The blushing rose and the. lily,
Will screen lier charms from public view,
And rarely be seen in the crowd.
237
Oppress'd with heaviness and toil,
Seek not the flow'ry bank for rest,
Though the bow'ring woodbine spread there
O'er thy head its fragrant shelter,
Though Zephyr should long linger there,
To hear the sky-lark's tuneful song.
Heedless youth, thou shalt awake there,
The vengeance of the coiling snake.
238. --To Zimmermann, on Solitude,
Fond enthusiast, cease to obtrude.
The love of solitude on man :
Cease, cease, with faint and gay colors,
To paint that sickly nymph's retreat.
Her slothful ease and silent shades
May please the old and impotent;
But the brisk eye and firm muscle
Shall fly at distance from her haunts.
239
As the maid now grew in stature,
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? 108 Versification.
(A flow'r just op'ning to the view)
She oft stray'd through her native lawns,
And play'd with the lambkins,. wrestling.
Her looks bequeath'd diffusive sweets :
As she breath'd, the breeze grew purer:
The morn assum'd her rosy blush:
The spring bloom'd with earlier fragrance;
And nature took delight yearly
To dress the world in white, like her.
240
The morning blush'd; the shades were fled;
The winds were hush'd in their caverns;
When Hymen, sedate and pensive,
Held his musing gait o'er the fields.
Through the green-wood shade, behind him
The god survey'd Death's meagre form,
Who, with gigantic stride, quickly
Outwent his pace, and join'd his side.
The chat ran on various subjects,
'Till angry Hymen began thus.
241. --To a Redbreast.
From icy sprays and snowy plains,
From sunless days and moonless nights,. . . ,
Helpless, panting guest! thrice welcome !
In my breast I'll fondly warm thee
A captive's doom thou need'st not dread.
No! flutter round my room freely. . . .
At my lonely meal, no longer
I'll feel alone, while thou art by:
For, devoid of all distrust, soon
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Tbou'lt share my humble crust, nibbling. . . .
Heedless of the raving blast, thus,
Till winter's past; thou'l^dwell with me.
242
Friend ! forbear, o'er this sepulcre,
The pitying tear, the plaintive sigh.
My death supplies no just pretence
To dim thine eyes, or heave thy breast.
Grac'd with children's children, one wife
Walk'd down the vale of life with me.
My joyous hands three blooming youths
Entwin'd in Hymen's blissful bands
I shed, through life, no streams of grief
O'er child or grandchild, dead or sick.
To my departed shade, by them,
The rite was paid, the tear was pour'd :
Convoy'd to eternal rest thus,
Supremely blest in life, in death.