 | The Poetical Works of Horace Smith |  |
151
MAN.
Afflicition one day, as she hark'd to the roar
Of the stormy and struggling billow,
Drew a beautiful form on the sands of the shore,
With the branch of a weeping-willow.
Of the stormy and struggling billow,
Drew a beautiful form on the sands of the shore,
With the branch of a weeping-willow.
Jupiter, struck with the noble plan,
As he roam'd on the verge of the ocean,
Breathed on the figure, and calling it Man,
Endued it with life and motion.
As he roam'd on the verge of the ocean,
Breathed on the figure, and calling it Man,
Endued it with life and motion.
A creature so glorious in mind and in frame,
So stamp'd with each parent's impression,
Amongst them a point of contention became,
Each claiming the right of possession.
So stamp'd with each parent's impression,
Amongst them a point of contention became,
Each claiming the right of possession.
152
He is mine, said Affliction; I gave him his birth,
I alone am his cause of creation;—
The materials were furnish'd by me, answered Earth;—
I gave him, said Jove, animation.
I alone am his cause of creation;—
The materials were furnish'd by me, answered Earth;—
I gave him, said Jove, animation.
The gods, all assembled in solemn divan,
After hearing each claimant's petition,
Pronounced a definitive verdict on Man,
And thus settled his fate's disposition:
After hearing each claimant's petition,
Pronounced a definitive verdict on Man,
And thus settled his fate's disposition:
“Let Affliction possess her own child, till the woes
Of life cease to harass and goad it;
After death give his body to Earth, whence it rose,
And his spirit to Jove who bestow'd it.”
Of life cease to harass and goad it;
After death give his body to Earth, whence it rose,
And his spirit to Jove who bestow'd it.”
| The Poetical Works of Horace Smith | |