Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

THE

Mufe in a Moral Humour.

AVARO and AM AND A.

W

A TALE.

By Mr. STEPHEN DUCK.

HAT Ills from Want of Education

flow,

From Avarice what cruel Scenes of
Woe,

I mean to fing; except the tuneful Maid
Neglects my Numbers, and refuse her Aid.
Say, Goddess, first, what made the Youth
explore

A foreign Clime, and quit his native Shore? Say too, how on the barb'rous Ifle he came; What mov'd the Kindness of the Negro Dame? B

What

What cou'd provoke a faithlefs Youth to fell A Friend, whofe only Crime was loving

well?

Now had Avaro twenty Winters pass'd,
His blooming Features ev'ry Beauty grac'd;
In filver Rings, his loosely flowing Hair
Hung o'er his Shoulders with a comely Air;
Robuft his Limbs, and daring was his Soul,
And Vigour crown'd the well-proportion'd
Whole :

His graceful Charms the Ladies oft survey'd,
And oft their Eyes an am'rous Signal made;
But never cou'd the tender Paffion move,
The ftubborn Youth was ftill averfe to Love;
Yet, tho' his Breaft was Proof to Cupid's Dart,
A more ignoble God enflav'd his Heart.

No Myfteries of Faith difturb'd his Head; For Mysteries of Faith he seldom read; That moral Law, which Nature had impreft, He blotted from the Volume of his Breaft; Yet in his Mind his Father's Precepts bears, Who often rung this Leffon in his Ears: "Wou'd you, my Son, to Happiness afpire, "Know, Gold alone can Happiness acquire; "He that has Gold, is pow'rful as a King, "Has Valour, Virtue, Wisdom, ev'ry Thing! "This to obtain, your utmoft Skill beftow; "And if you gain it, be not careful how: "If in the Court, or Camp, you take Delight, "Then dare to flatter there, or here to fight;

[ocr errors]

"Or, fhou'd the Merchant's Life your Fancy

"please,

"Be bold, and bravely venture on the Seas; "Many by Merchandize have gain'd Re66 nown,

"And made the Indies Wealth become their
" own."

The Youth imbib'd the Precepts of his Tongue,
Neglecting ev'ry Law of Right and Wrong;
Taught by his Sire to court destructive Gain,
He burns to try his Fortune on the Main.
While other Youths, by Wit or Pleasure
fway'd,

Frequent the Play, the Ball or Masquerade;.
Avaro, ftudious, in his Chamber stays,

Careless of Balls, of Mafquerades, and Plays;
There adds, fubftracts, and, with unweary'd
Pain,

Learns all the Rules of Int'reft, Lofs, and
Gain.

Next, from an old Aftronomer, he tries
To learn the Planets Journey thro' the Skies;
With him, at Night, when Heav'n ferene
appears,

He points the Quadrant at the shining Spheres ;
The Hyades, and frozen Pole surveys,

Which guide the Sailor o'er the distant Seas;
Then Maps and Models of our Globe pre-

pares,

And carefully infpects both Hemispheres ;

B 2

From

[ocr errors]

From Eaft to Weft he views the spacious
Round,

Pleas'd with the modern World Columbus found:
In Hope elate, the Youth impatient stands,
And seems to grasp both Indies in his Hands.
This fees the Sire, and haftily provides
A Veffel, proof against the Winds and Tides.
The Youth embarks, the foft propitious. Gales/
Arife, and foon expand the fwelling Sails;
The Ship glides fwiftly o'er the liquid Plain,
And Neptune fmiles, and courts him on the

Main.

But fee, how Mortals are the Sport of Fate! How oft unhappy, striving to be great! Ere Cynthia twice her monthly Race had run, An Omen of the fatal Storm begun : The murm'ring Wind arifes by Degrees, And rocks the Ship, and fweeps the curling Seas;

Now louder, with impetuous Force it roars, And fhoves the fwelling Surges to the Shores; Till rapid Rain, and Flakes of bick'ring Flame,

With dreadful Thunder vex th' etherial Frame. Struck with Surprize, the tim'rous Merchant ftands,

Nor knows what he forbids, or what commands:

Nor fafely back, nor can he forwards go;
But trembling waits, and fears the fatal Blow.

Long

« AnteriorContinuar »