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Various pieces in verse and prose

By the late Nathaniel Cotton. Many of which were never before published. In two volumes
Cotton, Nathaniel (1705-1788)
  
[epigraph]
  
[epigraph]

collapse sectionI. 
VOL. I.
  
[dedication]
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FABLES.
 I. 
FABLE I. The Bee, the Ant, and the Sparrow.
 II. 
FABLE II. The Scholar and the Cat.
 III. 
FABLE III. Neptune and the Mariners.
 IV. 
FABLE IV. The Beau and the Viper.
 V. 
FABLE V. The Snail and the Gardener.
 VI. 
FABLE VI. The Farmer and the Horse.
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TALES.
  
The Lamb and the Pig.
  
Death and the Rake.
  
The second Ode of the second Book of Horace.
  
The Tenth Ode of the second Book.
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EPITAPHS.
  
[Reader, approach my urn—thou need'st not fear]
  
On Robert Clavering, M. B.
  
On Colonel Gardiner,
  
On Mr. Sibley, Of Studham.
  
On a Lady, who had laboured under a Cancer.
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VARIOUS PIECES.
  
An Invocation of Happiness, after the Oriental Manner of Speech.
  
[Reader, if fond of wonder and surprise]
  
An Enigma, inscribed to Miss P.
  
The Fireside.
  
To some Children listening to a Lark.
  
To a Child of five Years old.
  
On Lord Cobham's Garden.
  
Tomorrow.
  
An Allusion to Horace, Ode XVI. Book II.
  
An Epitaph upon Mr. Thomas Strong, who died on the 26th of December, 1736.
  
Epitaph upon Miss Gee, Who died October 25, 1736, Ætat. 28.
  
REBUS.
  
REBUS.
  
REBUS.
  
ANOTHER.
  
Some hasty Rhimes on Sleep.
  
A REBUS.
  
A SONG.
  
A Sunday Hymn, in Imitation of Dr. Watts.
  
An Ode on the Messiah.
  
An Ode on the New Year.
  
EPITAPH On John Duke of Bridgwater,
  
A Fable.
  
Addressed to a young Lady, whose favourite Bird was almost killed by a fall from her Finger.
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RIDDLES.
  
[From the dark caverns of the earth]
  
ANOTHER.
  
ANOTHER.
  
ANOTHER.
  
PSALM XIII.
  
PSALM XLII.
  
The Night Piece.
  
To the Rev. James Hervey, on his Meditations.
  
LINES under a Sun-Dial in the Church-yard at Thornby.
  
To the Memory Of the Reverend Mr. Samuel Clark, Who died December the 26th, aged 42.
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VISIONS IN VERSE, FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT AND INSTRUCTION OF YOUNGER MINDS.
  
AN EPISTLE TO THE READER.
 I. 
SLANDER.
 II. 
PLEASURE.
 III. 
HEALTH.
 IV. 
CONTENT.
 V. 
HAPPINESS.
 VI. 
FRIENDSHIP.
 VII. 
MARRIAGE.
 VIII. 
LIFE.
  
DEATH.

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The Tenth Ode of the second Book.

Wou'd you, my friend, true bliss obtain?
Nor press the coast, nor tempt the main.
In open seas loud tempests roar,
And treacherous rocks begirt the shore.
Hatred to all extremes is seen,
In those who love the golden mean.
They nor in palaces rejoice,
Nor is the sordid cot their choice.
50

The middle state of life is best,
Exalted stations find no rest;
Storms shake th'aspiring pine, and tower,
And mountains feel the thunder's power.
The mind prepar'd for each event,
In every state maintains content.
She hopes the best, when storms prevail,
Nor trusts too far the prosperous gale.
Shou'd time returning winters bring,
Returning winter yields to spring.
Shou'd darkness shroud the present skies,
Hereafter brighter suns shall rise.
When Pæan shoots his fiery darts,
Disease and death transfix our hearts;
But oft the God withholds his bow,
In pity to the race below.
51

When clouds the angry heavens deform,
Be strong, and brave the swelling storm;
Amidst prosperity's full gales
Be humble, and contract your sails.
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