 | I. |
|
|
| I. |
| II. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| II. |
 | Miscellanies (1785) |  |
The bias social, man with men must share,
The varied benefits of earth and air;
Life's leading law, my friend, which governs all,
To some in large degrees, to some in small;
To lowest insects, highest pow'rs, a part
Wisely dispens'd to ev'ry beating heart;
A due proportion to all creatures given,
From the mole's mansion to the seraph's heav'n.
See the wing'd legions which at noon-tide play,
Together clust'ring in the solar ray,
There sports the social passion; see, and own,
That not an atom takes its flight alone.
Th' unwieldy monsters of the pregnant deep;
The savage herds that thro' the forest sweep;
The viewless tribes that populate the air;
The milder creatures of domestic care;
The rooks which rock their infants on the tree;
The race which dip their pinions in the sea;
The feather'd train, gay tenants of the bush,
The glossy blackbird, and the echoing thrush,
The gaudy goldfinch which salutes the spring,
Winnowing the thistle with his burnish'd wing;
Jove's eagle soaring towards yon orb of light;
Aurora's Iark, and Cynthia's bird of night:
All these the laws of Sympathy declare;
And chorus heav'ns first maxim, born to share.
The varied benefits of earth and air;
Life's leading law, my friend, which governs all,
To some in large degrees, to some in small;
23
Wisely dispens'd to ev'ry beating heart;
A due proportion to all creatures given,
From the mole's mansion to the seraph's heav'n.
See the wing'd legions which at noon-tide play,
Together clust'ring in the solar ray,
There sports the social passion; see, and own,
That not an atom takes its flight alone.
Th' unwieldy monsters of the pregnant deep;
The savage herds that thro' the forest sweep;
The viewless tribes that populate the air;
The milder creatures of domestic care;
The rooks which rock their infants on the tree;
The race which dip their pinions in the sea;
The feather'd train, gay tenants of the bush,
The glossy blackbird, and the echoing thrush,
The gaudy goldfinch which salutes the spring,
Winnowing the thistle with his burnish'd wing;
Jove's eagle soaring towards yon orb of light;
Aurora's Iark, and Cynthia's bird of night:
24
And chorus heav'ns first maxim, born to share.
Thus Instinct, Sympathy, or what you will,
A first great principle, is active still;
Shines out of every element the soul,
And deep pervading, animates the whole;
Floats in the gale, surrounds earth's wide domain,
Ascends with fire, and dives into the main;
Whilst dull, or bright, th' affections know to play
As full, or feebly, darts this social ray;
Dimly it gleams on insect, fish, and fowl,
But spreads broad sunshine o'er man's favour'd soul.
A first great principle, is active still;
Shines out of every element the soul,
And deep pervading, animates the whole;
Floats in the gale, surrounds earth's wide domain,
Ascends with fire, and dives into the main;
Whilst dull, or bright, th' affections know to play
As full, or feebly, darts this social ray;
Dimly it gleams on insect, fish, and fowl,
But spreads broad sunshine o'er man's favour'd soul.
| Miscellanies (1785) | |