See near his bed (his bed too falfely call'd
The place of reft, while it a Bard sustains;
Pale, meagre, Mufe-rid wight! who reads in vain
Narcotic volumes o'er) his candlestick,
Radiant machine, when from the plastic hand
Of Mulciber, the mayor of Birmingham,
The engine iffued; now alas difguis'd
By many an unctuous tide, that wandering down
Its fides congeal; what he, perhaps, essays
With humour forc'd, and ill-diffembled fmile,
Idly to liken to the poplar's trunk
When o'er its bark the lucid amber, wound
In many a pleasing fold, incrufts the tree.
Or fuits him more the winter's candy'd thorn,
When from each branch, anneal'd, the works of frost
Pervasive, radiant ificles depend?
How fhall I fing the various ill that waits
The careful fonneteer? or who can paint
The fhifts enormous, that in vain he forms
To patch his panelefs window; to cement
His batter'd tea-pot, ill-retentive vase?
To war with ruin? anxious to conceal
Want's fell appearance, of the real ill
Nor foe, nor fearful. Ruin unforeseen
Invades his chattels; ruin will invade ;
Will claim his whole invention to repair,
Nor, of the gift, for tuneful ends defign'd,
Allow one part to decorate his fong.
While ridicule, with ever-pointing hand
Confcious of every fhift, of every shift
Indicative, his inmoft plot betrays,
Points to the nook, which he his study calls
Pompous and vain! for thus he might esteem
His cheft, a wardrobe; purse, a treasury;
And fhews, to crown her full display, himself.
One whom the powers above, in place of health,
And wonted vigour; of paternal cot,
Or little farm; of bag, or fcrip, or staff,
Cup, difh, fpoon, plate, or worldly utenfil,
A poet fram'd; yet fram'd not to repine,
And with the cobler's loftieft fite his own;
Nor, partial as they feem, upbraid the fates,
Who to the humbler mechanifm, join'd
Goods fo fuperior, fuch exalted bliss!
See with what feeming eafe, what labour'd peace,
He, hapless hypocrite! refines his nail,
His chief amusement! then how feign'd, how forc'd,
That care-defying fonnet, which implies.
His debts discharg'd, and he of half a crown
In full poffeffion, uncontested right
And property! Yet ah! whoe'er this wight
Admiring view, if fuch there be, distrust
The vain pretence; the fimiles that harbour grief
As lurks the ferpent deep in flowers enwreath'd.
Forewarn'd, be frugal; or with prudent rage
Thy pen demolish; chufe the trustier flail,
And blefs thofe labours which the choice infpir'd.
But if thou view'ft a vulgar mind, a wight
Of common fenfe, who feeks no brighter name,
Him envy, him admire, him, from thy breast,
Prefcient of future dignities, falute
Sheriff, or mayor, in comfortable.furs
Enwrapt, fecure: nor yet the laureat's crown
In thought exclude him! He perchance fhall rife
To nobler heights than forefight can decree.
When, fir'd with wrath, for his intrigues difplay'd many an idle fong, Saturnian Jove
Vow'd fure deftruction to the tuneful race;
Appeas'd by fuppliant Phoebus, "Bards, he faid,
Henceforth of plenty, wealth, and pomp debarr'd,
But fed by frugal cares, might wear the bay
Secure of thunder."-Low the Delian bow'd,
Nor at th' invidious favour dar'd repine.
THE EFFECTS OF SUPERSTITION.
T length fair peace with olive crown'd regains Her lawful throne, and to the facred haunts Of wood or fount the frighted Mufe returns. Happy the Bard, who, from his native hills, Soft muling on a fummer's eve, furveys His azure ftream, with penfile woods enclos'd! Or o'er the glafly furface, with his friend, Or faithful fair, through bordering willows green Wafts his small frigate. Fearless he of fhouts, Or taunts, the rhetoric of the watery crew That ape confufion from the realms they rule!
Fearless of thefe; who fhares the gentler voice
Of peace and mufic; birds of sweetest song
Attune from native boughs their various lay,
And chear the foreft; birds of brighter plume
With bufy pinion fkim the glittering wave,
And tempt the fun; ambitious to display
Their feveral merit, while the vocal flute,
Or number'd verfe, by female voice endear'd,
Crowns his delight, and mollifies the scene.
If folitude his wandering steps invite
To fome more deep recefs (for hours there are,
When gay, when focial minds to friendship's voice,
Or beauty's charm, her wild abodes prefer);
How pleas'd he treads her venerable shades,
Her folemn courts! the centre of the grove!
The root-built cave, by far-extended rocks
Around embofom'd, how it foothes the foul!
If fcoop'd at firft by fuperftitious hands
The rugged cell receiv'd alone the fhoals
Of bigot minds, religion dwells not here,
Yet virtue pleas'd, at intervals, retires:
Yet here may wisdom, as he walks the maze,
Some ferious truths collect, the rules of life,
And ferious truths of mightier weight than gold!
I ask not wealth; but let me hoard with care,
With frugal cunning, with a niggard's art,
A few fix'd principles; in early life,
Ere indolence impede the fearch, explor'd..
Then, like old Latimer, when age impairs
My judgment's eye, when quibbling fchools attack
My grounded hope, or fubtler wits deride,
Will I not blush to fhun the vain debate,
And this mine anfwer; "Thus, 'twas thus I thought; "My mind yet vigorous, and my foul entire; "Thus will I think, averfe to liften more "To intricate difcuffion, prone to stray. "Perhaps my reafon may but ill defend
My fettled faith; my mind, with age impair'd, "Too fure its own infirmities declare.
"But I am arm'd by caution, ftudious youth,
"And early foreight; now the winds may rife,
"The tempeft whistle, and the billows roar;
"My pinnace rides in port, despoil'd and worn,
"Shatter'd by time and storms, but while it fhuns
«Th' inequal conflict, and declines the deep,
"Sees the strong veffel fluctuate less fecure."
Thus while he ftrays, a thousand rural scenes
Suggest instruction, and inftructing please.
And fee betwixt the grove's extended arms
An abbey's rude remains attract thy view,
Gilt by the mid-day fun
Produce thine axe, (for,
with lingering step aiming to destroy
Tree, branch, or shade, for never shall thy breast
Too long deliberate) with timorous hand
Remove th' obftructive bough; nor yet refufe,
Though fighing, to destroy that favourite pine,
Rais'd by thine hand, in its luxuriant prime
Of beauty fair, that fcreens the vast remains.
Aggriev'd but conftant as the Roman fire,
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