Page images
PDF
EPUB

What if thine heav'n be overcaft,

The dark appearance will not last,
Expect a brighter sky;

The God that ftrings the filver bow,

Awakes fometimes the mufes too,

And lays his arrows by.

6.

If hindrances obftru&t thy way,
Thy magnanimity display,

And let thy ftrength be feen,

But oh! if Fortune fill thy fail
With more than a propitious gale,
Take half thy canvass in.

A REFLECTION on the foregoing ODE.

AND is this all? Can reafon do no more

Than bid me fhun the deep and dread the

fhore?

Sweet

Sweet moralift! afloat on life's rough fea
The chriftian has an art unknown to thee
He holds no parley with unmanly fears,
Where duty bids he confidently fteers,
Faces a thousand dangers at her call,
And trufting in his God, furmounts them all.

Tranflations from VINCENT BOURNE.

1. THE G LOW-W OR M,

I.

BENEATH the hedge, or near the ftream,

A worm is known to ftray;

That fhews by night a lucid beam,

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Disputes have been and ftill prevail
From whence his rays proceed;

Some give that honour to his tail,

And others to his head.

3.

But this is fure-the hand of might

That kindles up the skies,

Gives him a modicum of light,

Proportion'd to his fize.

4.

Perhaps indulgent nature meant
By fuch a lamp bestow'd,

To bid the trav'ler, as he went,

Be careful where he trod :

5.

Nor crush a worm, whofe ufeful light
Might ferve, however small,

To fhew a ftumbling ftone by night,

And fave him from a fall.

6.

Whate'er fhe meant, this truth divine

Is legible and plain,

'Tis power almighty bids him fhine,

Nor bids him shine in vain.

Ye

7.

Ye proud and wealthy, let this theme

Teach humbler thoughts to you,

Since fuch a reptile has its gem,

And boasts its fplendour too.

2.

THE JACK DAW.

I.

THERE is a bird who by his coat,

And by the hoarseness of his note,

Might be fuppos'd a crow;

A great frequenter of the church,
Where bishop-like he finds a perch,

And dormitory too.

2.

Above the steeple fhines a plate,

That turns and turns, to indicate

From what point blows the weather;

Look up your brains begin to fwim, 'Tis in the clouds-that pleases him,

He chooses it the rather.

[blocks in formation]

3.

Fond of the fpeculative height,
Thither he wings his airy flight,

And thence fecurely fees

The bustle and the raree-show

That occupy mankind below,

Secure and at his eafe.

4.

You think no doubt he fits and mufes

On future broken bones and bruifes,

If he should chance to fall;

No not a single thought like that
Employs his philofophic pate,

Ór troubles it at all.

5.

He fees that this great roundabout

The world, with all its motley rout,

Church, army, phyfic, law,

Its cuftoms and its bufineffes

Are no concern at all of his,

And fays, what fays he? Caw.

« PreviousContinue »