5

Has thy new post betray'd thee into pride?
That treach'rous pride betrays thy dignity;
That pride defames humanity, and calls

The being mean, which staffs or strings can raise.
High worth is elevated place: "Tis mòre;
It makes the post stand candidate for thee;

Makes more than monarchs, makes an honest màn ;
Though no exchequer it commands, 'tis wèalth;
And though it wears no ríbband, 'tis renown;
10 Renown, that would not quit thee, though disgràc'd,
Nor leave thee pendant on a master's smile.
Other ambition nature interdicts;

Nature proclaims it most absurd in man,
By pointing at his origin, and end;

15 Milk, and a swathe, at first his whole demand;
His whole domain, at last, a turf, or stone; -
To whom, between, a world may seem too small.
Young.

9. Nothing can make it less than mad in man To put forth all his ardour all his art, 20 And give his soul her full unbounded flight, But reaching Him, who gave her wings to fly. When blind ambition quite mistakes her road, And downward pores, for that which shines above, Substantial happiness, and true renown;

25 Then, like an ideot, gazing on the brook, We leap at stars, and fasten in the mud; At glory grasp, and sink in infamy.

Ambition! pow'rful source of good and ill! Thy strength in man, like length of wing in birds, 30 When disengag'd from earth, with greater ease

And swifter flight transports us to the skìes;
By toys entangled, or in guilt bemir'd,

It turns a curse; it is our chain, and scourge,
In this dark dungeon, where confin'd we lie,
5 Close grated by the sordid bars of sense;
All prospect of eternity shut out;

And, but for execution, ne'er set free.

In spite of all the truths the muse has sung,
Ne'er to be priz'd enough! enough revolv'd !
10 Are there who wrap the world so close about them,
They see no farther than the clouds ? and dance
On heedless vanity's fantastic toe ?

Till, stumbling at a straw, in their career,
Headlong they plunge, where end both dance and

song.

15 Are there on earth,-(let me not call them men,) Who lodge a soul immortal in their breasts; Unconscious as the mountain of its ore;

Or rock, of its inestimable gem?

When rocks shall melt, and mountains vanish, these 20 Shall know their treasure; treasure, then, no more. Are there, (still more amazing!) who resist

The rising thought? Who smother, in its birth, The glorious truth? Who struggle to be brutes? Who through this bosom-barrier burst their way, 25 And, with revers'd ambition, strive to sink? Who labour downwards through th' opposing pow'r Of instinct, reason, and the world against them, To dismal hopes, and shelter in the shock Of endless night? night darker than the grave's! 30 Who fight the proofs of immortality?

With horrid zeal, and execrable arts,
Work all their energies, level their black fires,
To blot from man this attribute divine,

(Than vital blood far dearer to the wise)
5 Blasphemers, and rank atheists to themselves?

Young.

10. Look nature through, 'tis revolution all: All change; no death. Day follows night; and night The dying day; stars rise, and set, and rise; Earth takes th' example. See, the Summer gay, 10 With her green chaplet, and ambrosial flowers, Droops into pallid Autumn: Winter grey, Horrid with frost, and turbulent with storm, Blows Autumn, and his golden fruits, away;Then melts into the Spring: Soft Spring, with breath 15 Favonian, from warm chambers of the south, Recalls the first. All, to re-flourish, fades; As in a wheel, all sínks, to re-ascend. Emblems of man, who passes, not expires.

Look down on earth.-What seest thou? Wondrous things!

20 Terrestrial wonders, that eclipse the skies.

What lengths of labour'd lands! what loaded seas!
Loaded by man, for pleasure, wealth, or war!
Seas, winds, and planets, into service brought,
His art acknowledge, and promote his ends.
25 Nor can th' eternal rocks his will withstand :

What levell'd mountains! and what lifted vales!
O'er vales and mountains, sumptuous cities swell,
And gild our landscape with their glitt'ring spires.
Some 'mid the wond'ring waves majestic rise;

And Neptune holds a mirror to their charms. See, wide dominions ravished from the deep! The narrow'd deep with indignation foams. How the tall temples, as to meet their gods, 5 Ascend the skies! the proud triumphal arch Shews us half heav'n beneath its ample bend. High thro' mid air, here strèams are taught to flow: Whole rivers, there, laid by in bàsons, sleep.

Here, pláins turn oceans; there, vast oceans joìn 10 Thro' kingdoms channel'd deep from shore to shore : And changed creation takes its face from man. Earth's disembowel'd! measured are the skies! Stars are detected in their deep recess ! Creation widens ! vanquish'd nature yields ! 15 Her secrets are extorted! art prevails! What monument of genius, spirit, power!

Young.

11. The world's a prophecy of worlds to come; And who, what God foretels, (who speaks in things, Still louder than in words,) shall dare deny? 20 If nature's arguments appear too weak,

Turn a new leaf, and stronger read in man.
If man sleeps on, untaught by what he sees,
Can he prove infidel to what he feels?
Who reads his bosom, reads immortal life;
25 Or, nature, there, imposing on her sons,
-Has written fàbles: man was made a lie.

Why discontent for ever harbour'd there?
Incurable consumption of our peace!
Resolve me, why, the cottager and kìng,
30 He, whom sea-sever'd realms obey, and he

Who steals his whole dominion from the waste,
Repelling winter blasts with mud and straw,
Disquieted alike, draw sigh for sigh,

In fate so distant, in complaint so near?
5 Reason progressive, instinct is complete ;
Swift instinct leaps; slow reason feebly climbs.
Brutes soon their zenith reach; their little all
Flows in at once; in ages they no more
Could know, or do, or covet, or enjoy.
10 Were man to live coeval with the sun,
The patriarch-pupil would be learning still;
Yet, dying, leave his lesson half unlearnt.
Men perish in advance, as if the sun

Should set ere noon, in eastern oceans drown'd;
15 To man, why, stepdame nature! so severe ?
Why thrown aside thy master-piece half wrought,
While meaner efforts thy last hand enjoy ?
Or, if abortively, poor man must díe,

Nor reach, what reach he might, why die in dread? 20 Why curst with foresight? wise to mìsery? Why of his proud prerogative the prey? Why less pre-eminent in ránk, than pain? His immortality alone can solve

The darkest of enigmas, human hope; 25 Of all the darkest, if at death we dìe. Hope, eager hope, th' assassin of our joy, All present blessings treading under foot, Is scarce a milder tyrant than despair. With no past toils content, still planning new, 30 Hope turns us o'er to death alone for ease.

Possession, why more tasteless than pursuit?