University of Virginia Library

HOPE.

The first Speech.

Amidst the various Scenes of anxious Life,
Of Sickness, Sorrow, Poverty and Strife:
One sweet Companion still attends the Mind,
From whose kind Hints we secret Comfort find:
Fair-speaking Hope, that ever-welcome Guest,
The gentlest Inmate of the human Breast;
With future Bliss our present Care beguiles,
And cheats and chears us with her pleasing Smiles:
Nor transient are her Smiles, for to her Praise,
While Life remains the dear Deluder stays;
When most we languish, sunk in deep Distress,
When sharp Afflictions most the Soul depress;
Depriv'd of all, of ev'ry Good bereft,
When not one Pleasure nor one Friend is left;
The kind Indulger Hope alone remains,
Hushes our Griefs and moderates our Pains;
Bids us prepare a milder Fate to meet,
Smooths the rough Paths, and makes our Bitters sweet;
In smiling Fortune, or in Adverse ill,
This subtil Flatterer is ready still:
As Rich and Poor are equally her Friends,
Her Favors she impartially extends;
Confirms the Happy in their happy State,
And adds new Honours to th'ambitious Great;
Raises the Humble from their low Degree,
Combats Despair, and sets the Captive free;
Stands by the Miser while he counts his Store,
Laughs o'er the glitt'ring Heaps, and gives him more.
By her assisted, nothing seems too hard,
Go on she cries, and take a full Reward;
Prompted by Her, ev'n I can banish Fear,
And boldly hope to meet with Favor here.