 | Essays upon Several Subjects In Prose and Verse |  |
1
OF KNOWLEDGE.
To the Ladies.
2
When ancient Greece was for her Arts renown'd,
Was for her Learning and her Honour crown'd;
The Men alone did not the Glory share,
The Muses had their Female Votaries there.
Some Women all the Depths of Knowledge trac'd,
And were with ev'ry Science, ev'ry Virtue grac'd,
Their Understanding, like a Light Divine,
Did thro' their Lives with pleasing Splendor shine.
From thence the Roman Emulation grew,
Some Ladies there did the bright Tract pursue,
Made great Advances in the Paths of Fame,
And, rich in Learning, to her Temple came.
There a Cornelia did her Father grace,
The worthy Daughter of a Conqu'ring Race:
Not he more Glory cou'd from Carthage bring,
Than from her Pen, and from her Tongue did spring.
Was for her Learning and her Honour crown'd;
The Men alone did not the Glory share,
The Muses had their Female Votaries there.
Some Women all the Depths of Knowledge trac'd,
And were with ev'ry Science, ev'ry Virtue grac'd,
Their Understanding, like a Light Divine,
Did thro' their Lives with pleasing Splendor shine.
From thence the Roman Emulation grew,
Some Ladies there did the bright Tract pursue,
3
And, rich in Learning, to her Temple came.
There a Cornelia did her Father grace,
The worthy Daughter of a Conqu'ring Race:
Not he more Glory cou'd from Carthage bring,
Than from her Pen, and from her Tongue did spring.
In other Countries we have Trophies rais'd;
The wise Zenobia can't enough be prais'd;
She famous, as her August Tadmor, grew,
Almost as much as its first Founder knew.
No guilty Passion e're her Glory stain'd,
She still with Justice and with Mildness reign'd,
And when inslav'd, she never once complain'd.
Still was the same in each Extreme of Fate,
Humble when high, and when depress'd sedate.
In latter Times a great Example's found,
A Cottage-Virtue for her Merit crown'd;
An Athenais, by her Learning led
To the bright Honours of a Royal Bed!
Admir'd, tho' poor, both for her Mind and Face,
In both you might surprizing Beauties trace:
But 'twas the First wise Theodosius gain'd,
Such Charms he lik'd, as still the same remain'd,
Which neither Age, nor Sickness, cou'd remove,
Which still would shine, still would attract his Love.
Italian Shores with Female Praise resound,
Amalasuntha there was suff'ring found;
A Lady blest by Nature and by Art:
She'd all the Treasures Knowledge could impart,
A Mind well furnish'd, and gen'rous Heart.
But these, alas! could not a Husband move,
Could not perswade his barbarous Soul to love.
Her shining Qualities glar'd much too bright,
They shew'd those Vices he had hid in Night.
Provok'd, and blushing at the shameful View,
He at the guiltless Cause invenom'd Arrows threw.
Love fled, affrighted, from his Savage Breast,
A Place too cruel for so kind a Guest.
The gentle God to Paphian Shrines retir'd,
And there his Goddess Mother's Aid requir'd:
They join'd their Skill, their utmost Pow'r they try'd;
But he both them, and all their Arts defy'd,
Stood unconcern'd while his fair Princess dy'd,
By him destroy'd, who shou'd have sav'd her Life;
O Wretch! unworthy of so good a Wife:
Inhuman Prince, her Charms had Tygers mov'd,
She'd been for them, by fiercest Lions lov'd;
Thro' wildest Desarts might have safely stray'd,
And there been by the bestial World obey'd,
By none, but treacherous Man, have ever been betray'd.
Virtue's no Shield, it rather does expose;
The Bad are still the Good's inveterate Foes.
Merit in them does always Envy raise,
They hate the Persons they are forc'd to praise.
The wise Zenobia can't enough be prais'd;
She famous, as her August Tadmor, grew,
Almost as much as its first Founder knew.
No guilty Passion e're her Glory stain'd,
She still with Justice and with Mildness reign'd,
And when inslav'd, she never once complain'd.
Still was the same in each Extreme of Fate,
Humble when high, and when depress'd sedate.
In latter Times a great Example's found,
A Cottage-Virtue for her Merit crown'd;
An Athenais, by her Learning led
To the bright Honours of a Royal Bed!
Admir'd, tho' poor, both for her Mind and Face,
In both you might surprizing Beauties trace:
But 'twas the First wise Theodosius gain'd,
Such Charms he lik'd, as still the same remain'd,
Which neither Age, nor Sickness, cou'd remove,
Which still would shine, still would attract his Love.
Italian Shores with Female Praise resound,
Amalasuntha there was suff'ring found;
4
She'd all the Treasures Knowledge could impart,
A Mind well furnish'd, and gen'rous Heart.
But these, alas! could not a Husband move,
Could not perswade his barbarous Soul to love.
Her shining Qualities glar'd much too bright,
They shew'd those Vices he had hid in Night.
Provok'd, and blushing at the shameful View,
He at the guiltless Cause invenom'd Arrows threw.
Love fled, affrighted, from his Savage Breast,
A Place too cruel for so kind a Guest.
The gentle God to Paphian Shrines retir'd,
And there his Goddess Mother's Aid requir'd:
They join'd their Skill, their utmost Pow'r they try'd;
But he both them, and all their Arts defy'd,
Stood unconcern'd while his fair Princess dy'd,
By him destroy'd, who shou'd have sav'd her Life;
O Wretch! unworthy of so good a Wife:
Inhuman Prince, her Charms had Tygers mov'd,
She'd been for them, by fiercest Lions lov'd;
Thro' wildest Desarts might have safely stray'd,
And there been by the bestial World obey'd,
By none, but treacherous Man, have ever been betray'd.
Virtue's no Shield, it rather does expose;
The Bad are still the Good's inveterate Foes.
Merit in them does always Envy raise,
They hate the Persons they are forc'd to praise.
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[O let us rather sink into the Earth]
I.
O let us rather sink into the Earth,Into that Dust from whence we came,
And, mindful of our humble Birth,
All unbecoming Thoughts disclaim.
As well may Flies their Exaltation boast,
Because they in the Sun-beams play;
Because they feel the Warmth of each reviving Day,
Extend their Silken Wings, and o'er the flo'wry Meadows stray.
As well may Ants with a prepost'rous Pride
Their fellow Worms deride,
And fancy they, of all the Reptile Host,
Are the most diligent and wise;
Because with Toil and Care
They for contingent Wants prepare;
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For that in which his greatest Glory lies;
His Fame, his Riches, and his pompous Train,
With all those Things which make th'aspiring Wretch so vain,
They view with Scorn, as being not design'd
To constitute the Bliss of humane Kind,
Or satisfie th'impetuous Cravings of the Mind.
II.
Sure we should much more humble be,If we our selves could see:
But few, alas! but few,
Can bear the sad, the melancholy View,
They with Disgust avoid the Sight,
And turn 'em from the searching Rays of Light,
More pleas'd to wander in the dusky Shades of Night:
Where only seen by Lunar Beams,
Which weakly glimmer on the Streams,
And but a faint Reflection yield
To ev'ry Grove, and ev'ry Field.
By that pale, that feeble Flame,
Which has of Light no more but Name;
They but like fleeting Phantoms show,
And nor themselves, nor others know;
In Ignorance immers'd, and pleas'd with being so.
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III.
If Lambent Fires around their Temples blaze,In Fancy's flatt'ring Glass they gaze,
And, fond of the transporting Sight,
Give way to Raptures of Delight.
Too fierce their Joys, too quick their Sense,
They cannot bear what's so intense:
No more they Reason's Laws obey,
No more regard what Truth does say:
But when th'enkindled Vapours cease to shine,
Then they sigh, and then repine;
As much they grieve, as they rejoyc'd before,
With Tears their vanish'd Splendors they deplore;
Till some false Fire again they view,
Till Hope bids them some distant Light pursue.
By it urg'd on, from Place to Place they run;
But still the nimble Flame do's its Pursuers shun:
Yet they th'unequal Chase renew,
Till tir'd and panting by delusive Streams,
They fainting sink, and only quench their Thirst in Dreams
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[Accursed Pride taught Angels to rebel]
Accursed Pride taught Angels to rebel,Govern'd by That, immortal Spirits fell
From Heav'nly Seats, and Mansions all Divine,
Where they did with a spotless Brightness shine;
Where Light, as glorious as Meridian Day,
Did all around its lustrous Beams display,
And where Delights, for Mortals much too high,
Did them with unexhausted Joys supply,
They sunk to Realms of Darkness and Despair.
No Light but that of livid Flames was there;
A pale, a dismal, melancholy Sight:
All there was Horror, all did there affright,
And there they still must live, excluded from Delight.
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Will never be by haughty Thoughts undone.
My self I know, and by that Knowledge taught,
My Soul have to a humble Temper wrought.
Nothing that's mine shall proud idea's raise;
Weak little Minds still fondest are of Praise.
'Tis want of Sense that does Mankind elate,
The Wise consider their dependant State;
How short their Views, how little 'tis they know,
By what slow Steps thro' Nature's Labyrinth go,
Where, like mean worthless Worms, they to superior Beings show.
| Essays upon Several Subjects In Prose and Verse | |