The Dance of Life A Poem, by the author of "Doctor Syntax;%" [i.e. William Combe] Illustrated with coloured engravings, by Thomas Rowlandson |
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| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
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| VII. |
| VIII. |
 | CHAPTER IV. YOUTH. The Dance of Life |  |
But here the Episode appears,
Mix'd up of laughter, and of tears,
And with its pleasure and its woe,
Most difficult of all to know,
The science of the human heart
Which Wisdom only can impart;
That Wisdom which experience gives,
And he has most who longest lives:
That Science which when once attain'd
The first great end of Life is gain'd,
And, when by Reason well employ'd,
The real end of Life's enjoy'd.
—To baffle the sagacious cheat,
To pierce the well-disguis'd deceit,
To ken the merit unreveal'd
Which cautious modesty conceal'd;
To search each motive bad or good,
With which each human Act's imbued;
The cause of Virtue to defend,
To deprecate each vicious end,
Nor make a foe, nor lose a friend:
Such knowledge is more precious far
Than all other treasures are;
And he who travels far and near,
Who seeks beneath each hemisphere,
If he but find it, is repaid
For the long Journey he has made.
Mix'd up of laughter, and of tears,
And with its pleasure and its woe,
Most difficult of all to know,
The science of the human heart
Which Wisdom only can impart;
That Wisdom which experience gives,
And he has most who longest lives:
That Science which when once attain'd
The first great end of Life is gain'd,
And, when by Reason well employ'd,
The real end of Life's enjoy'd.
—To baffle the sagacious cheat,
To pierce the well-disguis'd deceit,
To ken the merit unreveal'd
Which cautious modesty conceal'd;
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With which each human Act's imbued;
The cause of Virtue to defend,
To deprecate each vicious end,
Nor make a foe, nor lose a friend:
Such knowledge is more precious far
Than all other treasures are;
And he who travels far and near,
Who seeks beneath each hemisphere,
If he but find it, is repaid
For the long Journey he has made.
| CHAPTER IV. YOUTH. The Dance of Life | |