The Memoirs of Mrs. Catherine Jemmat :: :: University of Virginia Library

Thoughtless on fate, tho' of its essence sure,
View man the bound'ries of his state explore;
The soft, delusive sweets of life avail,
To charm (just for a while) the sense of all;

128

In some they raise a discontented mind,
In some corrupted, and in some refin'd.
Harden'd thro' crimes impenitently gay,
See here a man bewilder'd in delay;
From time to time defers his mending hour;
Bold in his vice, he thinks himself secure.
To-morrows with to-morrows blended lye,
All his defects to-morrow must supply.
To-morrow comes, is but a common day:
His sins predominant must still delay.

129

Thus endless series of whole years may fly,
To-morrow he's to mend, to-morrow he's to dye;
At last cold death approaches with her aweful train,
Clasps our bold hero, who submits with conscious pain,
To-morrow he wishes, being now too late, to save,
Withdraws into the confines of the sleepy grave.
Thus liv'd, thus dy'd, and left sufficient ground to say,
There's no to-morrow, 'tis happy there is to-day.