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University of Virginia Library

A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes

Dodsley, Robert (1703-1764)

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I.

ON THE PROSPECT OF PEACE, A POEM. To the LORD PRIVY-SEAL.

To the Right Honourable the Earl of WARWICK, &c.

COLIN AND LUCY.

AN IMITATION OF THE PROPHECY OF NEREUS.

TO Sir GODFREY KNELLER, at his Country Seat.

ON THE Death of the Earl of CADOGAN.

AN ODE Inscrib'd to the Right Honourable the EARL OF SUNDERLAND AT WINDSOR.

KENSINGTON GARDEN.

AN EPISTLE from a Lady in England, TO A GENTLEMAN at Avignon.

THE FEMALE REIGN: AN ODE.

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SIX TOWN ECLOGUES.

The LOVER: A Ballad. To Mr. C---

The LADY's Resolve.

The GENTLEMAN's Answer.

An EPISTLE to Lord B---

EPILOGUE To MARY, Queen of SCOTS.

A RECEIPT to Cure the Vapours.

The SPLEEN. An EPISTLE to Mr. C--- J---.

The SPARROW and DIAMOND.

JOVE and SEMELE.

On Barclay's Apology for the Quakers.

PRE-EXISTENCE: A POEM, In Imitation of MILTON.

CHIRON to ACHILLES. A POEM.

ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ. Know your SELF.

LONDON: A POEM, In Imitation of the Third SATIRE of JUVENAL.

PROLOGUE SPOKEN BY Mr. GARRICK, At the Opening of the Theatre in Drury-lane 1747.

Of Active and Retired Life. AN EPISTLE to H. C. Esq;

THE RUINS of ROME. A POEM.

THE SCHOOL-MISTRESS. A POEM, In Imitation of Spenser.

THE ART of POLITICKS,

THE MAN of TASTE.

AN ESSAY ON CONVERSATION.

ODE, to a LADY. On the Death of Col. Charles Ross, in the Action at Fontenoy.

ODE, Written in the same Year.

ODE to EVENING.

VERSES written on a Blank Leaf,

ADVICE to a Lady in Autumn.

On a Lady drinking the Bath-Waters.

VERSES written in a Lady's Sherlock upon Death.

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II.

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THE PROGRESS of LOVE. IN Four ECLOGUES.

I.

UNCERTAINTY. Eclogue I.

II.

HOPE. Eclogue II.

III.

JEALOUSY. Eclogue III.

IV.

POSSESSION. Eclogue IV.

SOLILOQUY Of a BEAUTY in the Country.

TO THE Reverend Dr. AYSCOUGH at Oxford.

To Mr. POYNTZ, Ambassador at the Congress of Soissons, in the Year 1728.

VERSES to be written under a Picture of Mr. POYNTZ.

An Epistle to Mr. POPE.

To my Lord --- In the Year 1730.

ADVICE to a LADY.

DAMON and DELIA. In Imitation of Horace and Lydia.

ODE, in Imitation of Pastor Fido.

Part of an Elegy of Tibullus, translated.

Written at Mr. Pope's House at Twickenham, which he had lent to Mrs. G---lle.

To Mr. West at Wickham.

To Miss LUCY F---

To the Same, with Hammond's Elegies.

A Prayer to Venus in her Temple at Stowe. To the Same.

To the Same. On her pleading want of Time.

To the same with a New Watch.

An Irregular ODE written at Wickham, in 1746. To the Same.

To the Memory of the same LADY, A MONODY. A. D. 1747.

VERSES Making Part of an EPITAPH on the same LADY.

ON THE ABUSE of TRAVELLING.

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THE INSTITUTION OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER.

II.

An Epistle to the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Cornbury.

An EPISTLE to a LADY.

An EPISTLE to Mr. POPE.

EPISTLE to POLLIO, from the Hills of Howth in Ireland.

An ODE to William Pultney, Esq;

An Ode to the Right Honourable the Lord Lonsdale.

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An ODE to MANKIND.

INTRODUCTION to the PRINCE.

To MANKIND: An ODE.

VERSES to Camilla.

An INSCRIPTION on the Tomb, Raised to the memory of the author's father, and of others his ancestors.

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I.

II.

III.

IV.

EPIGRAM IV. Upon the Bust of English worthies, at Stow.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

EPIGRAM VIII. On Mrs. Penelope.

IX.

EPIGRAM IX. On one who first abused, and then made love to a Lady.

X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

EPIGRAM XV. To Clarissa.

XVI.

XVI.

The Danger of Writing Verse.

To the Honourable ---

To Mr. GARRICK.

NATURE to Dr. HOADLY.

The Youth and the Philosopher. A FABLE.

An ODE to a Gentleman, On his pitching a Tent in his Garden.

On a Message-Card in Verse. Sent by a LADY.

The Je ne scai Quoi. A SONG.

An ODE On a distant Prospect of ETON COLLEGE.

ODE on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes.

A MONODY On the Death of Queen CAROLINE.

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A PIPE of TOBACCO: In Imitation of Six Several Authors.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

ODE to the Hon. C. Y.

From CÆLIA to CLOE.

ON A FIT of the GOUT.

Horace, Ode 14. Book I. imitated in 1746.

The Female Right to Literature, in a Letter to a young Lady from Florence.

On Shakespear's Monument at Stratford upon Avon.

The INDIFFERENT.

The Triumph of INDIFFERENCE.

The Shepherd's Farewel to his Love.

Audivere, Lyce, &c. Hor. Book 4. Ode 13. Imitated.

A SONNET. Imitated from the Spanish of Lopez de Vega. Menagiana tom. iv. p. 176.

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I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

SONNET V. On a FAMILY-PICTURE.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

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III.

ON A GROTTO near the Thames, at Twickenham, Composed of Marbles, Spars, and Minerals.

HYMN on SOLITUDE.

An ODE ON ÆOLUS's HARP.

On the Report of a Wooden Bridge to be built at Westminster.

The Choice of HERCULES.

An ODE. TO THE People of GREAT BRITAIN.

PSYCHE: or the GREAT METAMORPHOSIS.

JOVI ELEUTHERIO.

AN EPISTLE FROM A Swiss Officer to his Friend at Rome.

LIFE burthensome, because we know not how to use it.

The Duty of Employing one's Self.

On SCRIBLING against GENIUS.

An EPISTLE from FLORENCE.

EPILOGUE to Tamerlane. On the Suppression of the Rebellion.

The ENTHUSIAST:

Stanzas written on taking the Air after a long Illness.

The Two Beavers. A Fable.

The Education of ACHILLES.

An EPISTLE from S. J. Esq; in the Country, to the Right Hon. the Lord Lovelace in Town.

To a LADY in Town, soon after her leaving the Country.

To the Right Hon. the Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, presented with a Collection of Poems.

CHLOE to STREPHON.

To the Right Honourable the Earl of CHESTERFIELD, on his being installed Knight of the Garter.

To a LADY, sent with a Present of Shells and Stones design'd for a Grotto.

To a LADY, in answer to a Letter wrote in a very fine Hand.

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The Art of DANCING. A Poem. Inscribed to the Rt. Hon. the Lady Fanny Fielding.

I.

II.

THE MODERN FINE GENTLEMAN.

THE MODERN FINE LADY.

AN ESSAY on VIRTUE. To the Honourable PHILIP YORKE, Esq;

The FEMALE DRUM: Or, The Origin of Cards. A Tale.

To Mr. FOX, written at Florence. In Imitation of Horace, Ode 4. Book 2.

To the Same. From Hampton-Court, 1731.

The POET's PRAYER.

An EPISTLE to a Lady.

GENIUS, VIRTUE, and REPUTATION.

MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE.

An INSCRIPTION.

To a GENTLEMAN,

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THE ESTIMATE of LIFE, IN THREE PARTS.

I.

II.

III.

PART III.

The PLEASURE of POETRY.

The POWER of POETRY.

To a Young Lady with Fontenelle's Plurality of Worlds.

To the Author of the Farmer's Letters, which were written in Ireland in the Year of the Rebellion, by Henry Brooke, Esq; 1745.

VERSES written in a Book called, Fables for the Female Sex.

VERSES written in Sylvia's PRIOR.

Upon a LADY's Embroidery.

DEATH and the DOCTOR.

INSCRIPTIONS on a Monument to the Memory of a Lady's favourite Bullfinch.

The Trial of SELIM the PERSIAN.

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The TROPHY, BEING SIX CANTATAS To the Honour of his Royal Highness Willliam, Duke of CUMBERLAND;

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I.

CANTATA I. The Volunteer.

II.

CANTATA II. The Poet.

III.

CANTATA III. The Painter.

IV.

CANTATA IV. The Musician.

V.

CANTATA V. The Shepherd.

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VI.

CANTATA VI. The Religious.

The Marriage of the Myrtle and the Yew.

On a BAY-LEAF, pluck'd from Virgil's Tomb near Naples. 1736.

To CHLOE. Written on my Birth-Day, 1734.

FASHION: A Satire.

NATURE and FORTUNE.

To the Earl of CHESTERFIELD.

HONOUR. A Poem.

ODE to a Water Nymph. By Mr. Mason.

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AN ESSAY ON SATIRE,

I.

II.

III.

A Character of Mr. POPE's Writings. BEING An Episode from the Poem call'd Sickness, Book II.

The Cave of Pope. A Prophecy.

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IV.

An ELEGY WRITTEN IN A Country Church Yard.

HYMN to ADVERSITY.

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EDUCATION. A POEM: IN TWO CANTOS.

I.

TO THE Hon. Wilmot Vaughan, Esq; in Wales.

AN EPISTLE ADDRESS'D TO Sir THOMAS HANMER, On his Edition of Shakespear's Works.

A SONG FROM SHAKESPEAR's CYMBELINE. Sung by Guiderus and Arviragus over Fidele, supposed to be dead.

ELEGY To Miss D--- W---D.

Answer to the foregoing Lines.

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EPISTLES in the Manner of Ovid.

MONIMIA to PHILOCLES. By the Same.

FLORA to POMPEY.

ARISBE to MARIUS Junior.

ROXANA to USBECK.

EPILOGUE design'd for Sophonisba, And to have been spoken by Mrs. Oldfield.

An Imitation of the Eleventh Ode of the First Book of Horace.

VERSES to Dr. George Rogers, on his taking the Degree of Doctor in Physic at Padua, in the Year 1664.

VIRGIL's Tomb. Naples 1741.

The LINK. A Ballad.

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THE SQUIRE of DAMES. A POEM. In SPENSER's Stile.

I.

II.

On the Death of a Lady's Owl.

The VANITY of Human Wishes.

The TEARS of OLD MAY-DAY.

SONG for RANELAGH.

The Benedicite Paraphrased.

An ODE to FANCY.

The MONKIES, a TALE.

An Epitaph. Thus Translated.

VERSES sent to Dean Swift on his Birth-day, with Pine's Horace finely bound.

VERSES written in a GARDEN.

AN ANSWER to a LOVE-LETTER.

In Answer to a LADY who advised RETIREMENT.

An Address of the Statues at Stowe, to Lord Cobham, on his Return to his Gardens.

An ODE ON THE DEATH of Mr. PELHAM.

VERSES Written at Mountauban in France, 1750.

The Revenge of AMERICA.

The Dying INDIAN.

ODE occasion'd by Reading Mr. West's Translation of Pindar.

THE PLEASURES of MELANCHOLY. Written in the Year 1745.

A SONNET; written at W---de in the Absence of ---.

On Sir Robert Walpole's Birth-day, August the 26th.

The Lawyer's Farewell to his Muse.

By Miss Cooper (now Mrs. Madan) in her Brother's Coke upon Littleton.

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I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

An ODE To the Right Honourable Stephen Poyntz, Esq; &c. &c.

ODE on the Death of Matzel, a favourite Bull-finch, address'd to Mr. St---pe, to whom the Author had given the Reversion of it when he left Dresden.

MARTIALIS EPIGRAMMA. Lib. vi. Ep. 24. Imitated.

The Progress of DISCONTENT.

On Lord Cobham's Gardens.

To a Child of Five Years old.

Father Francis's Prayer.

To the Right Hon. Henry Pelham, Esq

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An ODE Performed in the Senate-House at Cambridge July 1, 1749, At the Installation of his Grace Thomas Holles Duke of Newcastle, Chancellor of the University.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

ODE to an ÆOLUS's Harp.

An AUTUMNAL ODE.

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Translations from Horace.

Book I. Ode XVIII. Invitation to his Mistress.

Ode VI. Book II. Imitated.

Book II. Ode XII. Translated.

To a LADY making a Pin-Basket.

ODE on Ambition.

An Address to his Elbow-chair, new cloath'd.

ODE to a Friend wounded in a Duel.

Written upon leaving a Friend's House in Wales.

DENNIS to Mr. THOMSON,

The BULFINCH in Town.

Written to a near Neighbour in a tempestuous Night, 1748.

Written at a Ferme Ornee near Birmingham; August 7th, 1749.

The GOLDFINCHES. An Elegy.

The BLACKBIRDS. An Elegy.

The HEROINES, or Modern Memoirs,

ODE to MEMORY. 1748.

The Princess ELIZABETH:

ODE to a Young Lady,

VERSES written towards the close of the Year 1748, to William Lyttelton, Esq;

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I.

II.

II. Daphne's Visit.

III.

III. The Rose-Bud.

IV.

IV. Written in a Collection of Bacchanalian Songs.

V.

V. Imitated from the French.

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RURAL INSCRIPTIONS.

I.

[I.] On a Root-House.

II.

II. In a shady Valley, near a running Water.

III.

III. On a small Building in the Gothick Taste.

A Pastoral BALLAD, in Four Parts.

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V.

RURAL ELEGANCE:

Inscription near a Sheep-cote. 1745.

NANCY of the VALE.

ODE to INDOLENCE, 1750.

ODE to HEALTH, 1730.

To a LADY of QUALITY,

UPON A VISIT to the same in Winter, 1748.

An irregular ODE after Sickness, 1749.

ANACREONTIC, 1738.

ODE. Written 1739.

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LOVE SONGS, written between the Year 1737 and 1743.

I.

II.

SONG II. The Landskip.

III.

IV.

SONG IV. The Sky-Lark.

V.

VI.

SONG VI. The Attribute of Venus.

The Rape of the Trap, a Ballad; written at College, 1736.

The CEREMONIAL.

The Beau to the Virtuosos; alluding to a Proposal for the Publication of a Set of Butterflies.

VERSES to a FRIEND.

Written at an INN on a particular Occasion.

The Price of an EQUIPAGE.

The Extent of COOKERY.

The Progress of Advice. A common Case.

SLENDER's GHOST.

VERSES to a Writer of RIDDLES.

To Lady Fane on her Grotto at Basilden. 1746.

The Pepper-box and Salt-seller.

Written near BATH. 1755.

Verses to William Shenstone, Esq;

VALENTINE's Day.

The Scavengers. A Town Eclogue.

HAMLET's Soliloquy, Imitated.

Transcrib'd from the Rev. Mr. Pixel's Parsonage Garden near Birmingham, 1757.

MALVERN SPA, 1757.

Some Reflections upon hearing the Bell toll for the Death of a Friend.

The ROBIN: An Elegy.

UT PICTURA POESIS.

On J. W. ranging PAMPHLETS.

To a Gentleman, on the Birth-day of his first Son.

On two Friends born on the same Day.

A WINTER THOUGHT.

VERSES spoken at Westminster School.

A LETTER to Sir Robert Walpole.

An EPISTLE from the Elector of Bavaria to the French King, after the Battle of Ramillies.

To the Duke of MARLBOROUGH

An ODE on Miss Harriet Hanbury at Six Years old.

A SONG Upon Miss Harriet Hanbury, address'd to the Rev. Mr. Birt.

To Mr. Garnier and Mr. Pearce of Bath.

ODE to DEATH. Translated from the French of the King of Prussia.

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The Hymns of DIONYSIUS: Translated from the Greek.

I.

[I.] To the Muse.

II.

III.

III. To Nemesis.

A Satire in the Manner of Persius, in a Dialogue between Atticus and Eugenio.

To Mrs. BINDON at Bath.

Mrs. BINDON's Answer.

Sir CHARLES's Reply.

To a LADY, who sent Compliments to a Clergyman upon the Ten of Hearts.

The Bee, the Ant, and the Sparrow:

ODE on a STORM.

WOODSTOCK PARK. A Poem.

A Fit of the SPLEEN.

HYMN to Miss LAURENCE, in the Pump-Room. Bath, 1753.

A Letter to Corinna from a Captain in Country Quarters.

The Bears and Bees. A FABLE.

The CAMELION: A Fable after Monsieur de la Motte.

Immortality: or, the Consolation of Human Life. A Monody.

To the Memory of a GENTLEMAN, who died on his Travels to Rome.

Captain T--- of Battereau's Regiment in the Isle of Skie to Captain P--- at Fort Augustus.

To Mr. J. H. at the Temple, occasioned by a Translation of an Epistle of Horace. 1730.

To the Rev. Mr. J. S. 1731.

Answer to the foregoing, 1731. By J. S.

CUPID and CHLOE.

The Poet to his false Mistress.

On Mr. ---, Schoolmaster at ---.

KAMBROMYOMAXIA:

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Verses under the Prints of Mr. Hogarth's Rake's Progress, 1735.

I.

PLATE I. Scene, The room of the miserly father.

II.

PLATE II. The rake's levee.

III.

PLATE III. A brothel.

IV.

PLATE IV. St. James's street where the rake is arrested.

V.

PLATE V. Marybone church, where he marries a rich old woman.

VI.

PLATE VI. A gaming house.

VII.

PLATE VII. A prison.

VIII.

PLATE VIII. Bethle'm.

On the Friendship of two young Ladies, 1730.

CHLOE's unknown Likeness, 1738.

The BIRD of Passage, 1749.

Verses said to be fixed on the Gate of the Louvre at Paris. 1751.

CHLOE resolved. A BALLAD,

EPILOGUE to Shakespear's first Part of King Henry IV.

PROLOGUE to COMUS,

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EPIGRAMS from MARTIAL.

Martial, Book IV. Ep. 87.

Book I. Ep. 11.

Book I. Ep. 14.

Book III. Ep. 43.

Book IV. Ep. 78.

Book VII. Ep. 75.

Book VIII. Ep. 35.

Book XII. Ep. 23.

Book XII. Ep. 30.

Book XII. Ep 103.

Book I. Ep. 40.

A very gallant Copy of Verses, (but somewhat silly) upon the Ladies, and their fine Cloaths at a Ball.

Another on the same Subject, written with more Judgment, but fewer good Manners.

The Brewer's Coachman.

FEMALE CAUTION.

GRACE and NATURE.

A Fragment of CHAUCER.

Upon an Alcove, now at Parson's Green.

The COUNTRY PARSON.

Ode to Venus, from her Votaries of the Street.

The POET's IMPORTANCE.

To Polly Laurence, quitting the Pump.

ODE, to a LADY in LONDON.

ODE to CYNTHIA.

ODE to a THRUSH.

A POEM to the Memory of Thomas, late Marquiss of Wharton, Lord Privy Seal.

Paraphrase upon a French SONG.

THE TOMB of Shakespear. A VISION.

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VI.

HYMN TO THE NAIADS.

ODE To the Right Honourable Francis Earl of HUNTINGDON. MDCCXLVII.

ODE To the Right Reverend BENJAMIN Lord Bishop of WINCHESTER.

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I.

I. For a GROTTO.

II.

II. For a Statue of Chaucer at Woodstock.

III.

IV.

VI.

VI. For a Column at RUNNYMEDE.

ODE TO THE TIBER.

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I.

II.

ELEGY II. On the Mausoleum of AUGUSTUS.

III.

ELEGY III. To the Right Honourable George Simon Harcourt, Visc. Newnham.

IV.

ELEGY IV. To an OFFICER.

V.

ELEGY V. To a FRIEND Sick.

VI.

ELEGY VI. To another FRIEND.

The Lyric Muse to Mr. MASON.

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On the Immortality of the Soul.

I.

II.

The Arbour: An Ode to Contentment.

The GROTTO: An Ode to Silence.

The Picture of HUMAN LIFE.

The DROPSICAL MAN.

PARADISE Regain'd. By H. T.

To the Right Hon. Sir Robert Walpole.

To a Lady on a Landscape of her Drawing.

ODE to Cupid on Valentine's Day.

To the Honourable and Reverend F. C.

To the Reverend T--- T---, D. D.

To a LADY very handsome, but too fond of Dress.

ANACREON. Ode III.

An Imitation of Horace, Ode II. Book III.

A Reply to a Copy of Verses made in Imitation of Ode II. Book III. of Horace.

Inscription on a Grotto of Shells at Crux-Easton, the Work of Nine young Ladies.

VERSES occasioned by seeing a Grotto built by Nine Sisters.

An Excuse for Inconstancy, 1737.

To VENUS. A Rant, 1732.

The Power of MUSIC. A SONG.

LETTER from Smyrna to his Sisters at Crux-Easton, 1733.

Part of a Letter to my Sisters at Crux-Easton, wrote from Cairo in Egypt, August 1734.

LETTER from Marseilles to my Sisters at Crux-Easton, May 1735.

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The History of Porsenna, King of Russia,

I.

II.

The EVER-GREEN.

LYSANDER to CLOE.

CLOE to LYSANDER.

To the Memory of an agreeable Lady bury'd in Marriage to a Person undeserving her.

An Elegy, written on Valentine Morning.

ODE to the Honourable ---

To Miss ---. By Miss Elisa Carter.

Lady Mary W---, to Sir W--- Y---

Sir W--- Y---'s Answer.

Miss Soper's Answer to a Lady, who invited her to retire into a monastic Life at St. Cross, near Winchester.

REPENTANCE. By the Same.

CYNTHIA, an Elegiac Poem.

DIALOGUE to CHLORINDA.

The Fable of Ixion. To CHLORINDA.

A TALE. To CHLORINDA.

Ode on Lyric Poetry.

HORACE, Book II. Ode II.

A PANEGYRIC on ALE.

ODE to the Genius of Italy, occasioned by the Earl of Corke's going Abroad.

To C--- P---, Esq;

Epistle from the late Lord Viscount B---gb---ke to Miss Lucy A---k---ns.

The CHEAT's Apology.

Another. By the Same.

To Mr. Grenville on his intended Resignation.

To Mr. Garrick, on his erecting a Temple and Statue to Shakespear.

On the Birth-Day of Shakespear. A Cento. Taken from his Works.

An Ode to SCULPTURE.

True RESIGNATION.

An Epistle from the King of PRUSSIA, to Monsieur Voltaire. 1757.

At seeing Archbishop William's Monument in Carnarvonshire.

Extempore Verses upon a Trial of Skill between the two great Masters of Defence, Messieurs Figg and Sutton.

A Letter from Cambridge to a young Gentleman at Eton School.

The Song of Simeon paraphrased.

On the Invention of Letters.

The Play-Thing chang'd.

The Fable of JOTHAM: To the Borough-Hunters.

An Elegy written in an empty Assembly-Room.

The FAKEER: A Tale.

To Mr. WHITEHEAD, On his being made Poet Laureat.

Verses on the Prospect of planting Arts and Learning in America.

ODE. To INDEPENDENCY.

ODE. On MELANCHOLY.

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223

III. PART III.

Terpsichore: or, The Moderate.

—διδου δ' αγαθον τε κακον τε. Hom. Od. Θ.

Hæc satis est orare Jovem. Qui donat et aufert,
Det vitam, det opes; æpuum mi animum ipse parabo.
Hor. Lib. 1. Ep. 18.

Descend, Astræa, from above,
Where Jove's celestial daughters rove,
And deign once more to bring with thee
Thy earth-deserting family,
Calm Temperance, and Patience mild,
Sweet Contemplation's heavenly child,
Reflection firm, and Fancy free,
Religion pure, and Probity,
Whilst all the Heliconian throng
Shall join Terpsichore in song.

Ere man great Reason's lord was made,
Or the world's first foundations laid,
As high in their divine abodes,
Consulting sate the mighty gods,
Jove on the chaos looking down,
Spoke thus from his imperial throne:
“Ye deities and potentates,
“Aerial pow'rs, and heav'nly states,

224

“Lo, in that gloomy place below,
“Where darkness reigns and discord now,
“There a new world shall grace the skies,
“And a new creature form'd arise,
“Who shall partake of our perfections,
“And live and act by our directions,
“(For the chief bliss of any station
“Is nought without communication)
“Let therefore ev'ry godhead give
“What this new being should receive,
“But care important must be had,
“To mingle well of good and bad,
“That by th'allaying mixture, he
“May not approach to deity.”

The sovereign spake, the gods agree,
And each began in his degree:
Behind the throne of Jove there stood
Two vessels of celestial wood,
Containing just two equal measures,
One fill'd with pain, and one with pleasures;
The gods drew out from both of these,
And mix'd 'em with their essences,
(Which essences are heav'nly still,
When undisturb'd by nat'ral ill,
And man to moral good is prone,
Let but the moral pow'rs alone,
And not pervert 'em by tuition,
Or conjure 'em by superstition)

225

Hence man partakes an equal share
Of pleasing thoughts and gloomy care,
And Plain and Pleasure e'er shall be,
As Plato says, in company.
Receive the one, and soon the other
Will follow to rejoin his brother.
Those who with pious pain pursue
Calm Virtue, by her sacred clue,
Will surely find the mental treasure
Of Virtue, only real pleasure:
Follow the pleasurable road,
That fatal Siren reckons good,
'Twill lead thee to the gloomy cell,
Where Pain and Melancholy dwell.
Health is the child of Abstinence,
Disease, of a luxurious sense;
Despair, that hellish fiend, proceeds
From loosen'd thoughts, and impious deeds;
And the sweet offspring of Content,
Flows from the mind's calm government.
Thus, man, thy state is free from woe,
If thou would'st chuse to make it so.
Murmur not then at Heav'n's decree,
The gods have given thee liberty,
And plac'd within thy conscious breast,
Reason, as an unerring test,
And should'st thou fix on misery,
The fault is not in them, but thee.

See the Phædo of Plato.