The Shepherd and the Philosopher.
REMOTE from cities liv'd a swain,
Unvex'd with all the cares of gain;
His head was silver'd o'er with age,
And long experience made him sage;
In summer's heat and winter's cold,
He fed his flock, and penn'd the fold;
His hours in cheerful labour flew,
Nor envy, nor ambition knew:
His wisdom and his honest fame
Through all the country rais'd his name.
A deep philosopher (whose rules
Of moral life were drawn from schools)
The shepherd's homely cottage sought,
And thus explor'd his each of thought.
"Whence is thy learning? Hath thy toil
O'er Looks consum'd the midnight oil?
Hast thou old Greece and Rome survey'd,
And the vast sense of Plato weigh'd?
Hath Socrates thy soul refin'd,
And hast thou fathom'd Tully's mind?
Or, like the wise Ulysses, thrown,
By various fates, on realms unknown,
Hast thou through many cities stray'd,
Their customs, laws, and manners weigh'd?"
3 The shepherd modestly replied,
"I ne'er the paths of learning tried;
Nor have I roam'd in foreign parts,
To read mankind, their laws and arts:
For man is practis'd in disguise;
He cheats the most discerning eyes.
Who by that search shall wiser grow?
By that ourselves we never know.
The little knowledge I have gain'd,
Was all from simple nature drain'd;
Hence my life's maxiins took their rise,
llence grew my settled hate of vice.
4 The daily labours of the bee
Awake my soul to industry.
Who can observe the careful ant,
And not provide for future want?
My dog (the trustiest of his kind)
With gratitude inflames my minut
I mark his true, his faithful way,
And, in my service, copy Tray.
In constancy and nuptial love,
1 lean my duty from the dove.
The en, who from the chilly air,
With pious wing, protects her care,
And ev'ry fowl that flies at large,
Instructs me in a parent's charge.
5 From nature too I take my rule,
To shun contempt and ridicule.
I never, with important air,
In conversation overbear.
Can grave and formal for wise,
When men the solemn owl despise?
My tongue within my lips I rein;
For who talks much must talk in vain.
We from the wordy torrent fly;
Who listens to the chatt'ring pye?
Nor would I, with felonious flight,
By stealth invade my neighbour's right.
6 Rapacious animals we hate;
Kites, hawks, and wolves, deserve their fate
Do not we just abhorrence find
Against the toad and serpent kind?
But envy, calumny, and spite,
Bear stronger venom in their bite.
Thus ev'ry object of creation
Can furnish hints to contemplation;
And, from the most minute and mean,
A virtuous mind can morals glean."
7.Thy fame is just," the sage replies;
"Thy virtue proves thee truly wise.
Pride often guides the author's pen,
Books as affected are as men:
But he who studies nature's laws,
From certain truth his maxims draws;
And those, without our schools, suffice
To make men moral, good, and wise.'
The Road to Happiness open to al. Men. OH happiness! our being's end and aim (
Good, pleasure, ease, content! whate'er thy name, That something still which prompts th' eternal sigh, For which we bear to live, or dare to die:
Which still so near us, yet beyond us lies,
O'erlook'd, seen double, by the fool and wise;
Plant of celestial seed, if dropt below,
Say, in what mortal soil thou deign'st to grow ?
2 Fair opening to some court's propitious shrine,
Or deep with diamonds in the flaming mine?
Twined with the wreaths Parnassian laurels yield,
Or reap'd in iron harvests of the field?
Where grows? where grows it not? if vain our toil,
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.
Fix'a to no spot is happiness sincere;
'Tis no where to be found, or ev'ry where;
'Tis never to be bought, but always free ;
And, fled from monarchs, St. John! dwells with thee.
8 Ask of the learn'd the way.
The learn'd are blind
This bids to serve, and that to shun mankind :
Some place the bliss in action, some in ease;
Those call it pleasure, and contentment these:
Some sunk to beasts, find pleasure end in pain;
Some sweil'd to gods, confess ev'n virtue vain :
Or indolent, to each extreme they fall,
To trust in ev'ry thing, or doubt of all.
Who thus define it, say they more or less
Ihan this, that happiness is happiness?
L'ak nature's path, and mad opinions leave ;
All states can reach it, and all heads conceive;
Obvious her goods, in no extreme they dwell;
There needs but thinking right, and meaning well;
And mourn our various portions as we please,
Equal is common sense, and common ease.
Remember, man, "the universal cause
Acts not by partial, but by general laws;"
And makes what happiness we justly call,
Subsist not in the good of one, but all.-POPE.
SECTION. IV.
The Goodness of Providence.
THE Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye;
My noon-day walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
2 When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountains punt :
To fertile vales, and dewy meads, My weary wand'ring steps he leads; Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow, Amid the verdant landscape flow. 3 Tho' in the paths of death I tread, With glooming horrors overspread, My steadfast heart shall fear no ill; For thou, O Lord, art with me still; Thy friendly crook shall give me aid, And guide me through the dreadful shade. 4 Tho' in a bare and rugged way, Through devious lonely wilds I stray, Thy bounty shall my pains beguile ; The barren wilderness shall smile, With sudden greens and herbage crown'd, And streams shall murmur all around.ADDISON. SECTION V.
The Creator's Works attest his greatness.
THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangl'd heav'ns, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim;
Th' unweari'd sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's pow'r display,
And publishes to ev'ry land,
The work of an Almighty hand.
2 Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wond'rous tale;
And, nightly, to the list'ning earth,
Repeats the story of her birth;
Whilst all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roil,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
3 What though, in solemn silence, ail
Move round the dark terrestrial ball!
What tho' no real voice nor sound,
Amid their radiant orbs be found!
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice;
For ever singing as they shine,
"The hand that made us is Divine.".
SECTION VI.
An Address to the Deity.
O THOU! whose balance does the mountains weigh Whose will the wild tumultuous seas obey;
Whose breath can turn those wat'ry worlds to flame That flame to tempest, and that tempest tame; Earth's meanest son, all trembling, prostrate fails, And on the bounty of thy goodness calls. 20! give the winds all past offence to sweep, To scatter wide, or bury in the deep. Thy pow'r, my weakness, may I ever see, And wholly dedicate my soul to thee. Reign o'er my will; my passions ebb and flow At thy command, nor human motive know! If anger boil, let anger be my praise, And sin the graceful indignation raise. My love be warm to succour the distress'd, And lift the burden from the soul oppress'd.
30 may my understanding ever read
This glorious volume which thy wisdom made!
May sea and land, and earth and heav'n, be join'd,
To bring th' eternal Author to my mind!
When oceans roar, or awful thunders roll,
May thoughts of thy dread vengeance, shake my soul !
When earth's in bloom, or planets proudly shine,
Adore, my heart, the Majesty divine!
4 Grant I may ever, at the morning ray,
Open with pray'r the consecrated day;
Tune thy great praise, and bid my souì arise,
And with the mounting sun ascend the skies;
As that advances, let my zeal improve,
And glow with ardour of consummate love;
Nor cease at eve, but with the setting sun
My endless worship shall be still begun.
5 And oh! permit the gloom of solemn night,
To sacred thought may forcibly invite.
When this world's shut, and awful planets rise,
Call on our minds, and raise them to the skies!
Compose our souls with a less dazzling sight,
And show all nature in a milder light;
How ev'ry boist'rous thought in calin subsides;
How the smooth'd spirit into goodness glides!
6 Oh how divine! to tread the milky way,
To the bright palace of the Lord of Day ;
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