Occasional verse, moral and sacred Published for the instruction and amusement of the Candidly Serious and Religious [by Edward Perronet] |
 |
ON DEPENDENCE, AS A SITUATION. |
 |
 | Occasional verse, moral and sacred |  |
81
ON DEPENDENCE, AS A SITUATION.
Ah! cruel state! where hope is rack'd with fear,
That seals our bondage, as it prompts our care.
While fancy, dreaming of some better fate,
Beguiles the labour of the present state,
The fluctuant mind, by various passions tost,
Now rides aloft, and now immerg'd, is lost:
Yet after all our reason to complain,
We hug the fraud that justifies the pain;
And Hope refresh'd, like wheels fresh oil'd, pursues
Her daily task, and daily vows renews.
That seals our bondage, as it prompts our care.
While fancy, dreaming of some better fate,
Beguiles the labour of the present state,
The fluctuant mind, by various passions tost,
Now rides aloft, and now immerg'd, is lost:
Yet after all our reason to complain,
We hug the fraud that justifies the pain;
And Hope refresh'd, like wheels fresh oil'd, pursues
Her daily task, and daily vows renews.
Thus, day by day, like mendicants in trade,
We dance attendance on some promise made;
With pleasing pain the prospect we survey,
And servile homage for the prospect pay;
Which, tho' a shade, is eagerly pursu'd,
While Fancy dotes, and calls the phantom “Good.”
We dance attendance on some promise made;
With pleasing pain the prospect we survey,
And servile homage for the prospect pay;
Which, tho' a shade, is eagerly pursu'd,
While Fancy dotes, and calls the phantom “Good.”
Thus we go on, till disappointments come,
And teach us wisdom, as they read our doom.
When miss'd the object that our wishes sought,
At least the comfort that our fancy caught,
Our spirits sicken, as the prospect dies;
Yet grown thus poorer, we are grown more wise,
And, taught a lesson that the folly cures,
We henceforth seek a substance that endures.
And teach us wisdom, as they read our doom.
When miss'd the object that our wishes sought,
At least the comfort that our fancy caught,
Our spirits sicken, as the prospect dies;
Yet grown thus poorer, we are grown more wise,
And, taught a lesson that the folly cures,
We henceforth seek a substance that endures.
| Occasional verse, moral and sacred | |