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CHAPTER 3rd.
The Life and Poetical Works of James Woodhouse
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CALM REFLECTIONS!
Better be pined on providential scraps,
With Love's beatitudes, and mix'd mishaps,
Than insulated Wretch's torpor share,
Tho' daily fed with Fortune's daintiest fare!
Better in ragged, squalid, robes be clad
Where cordial bliss can be, with labour, had,
Than swell, elate, with splendid garments, gay,
And die, with indolence, the live-long day!
Better be lodg'd in small, sequester'd, shed,
Daub'd with plain plaster, in uncurtain'd bed,
Enjoying revelry in Love's delight;
Or watch, or chide, with children, all the night—
Than, in seclusion cold, unsocial sigh,
No faithful wedded Friend, or Offspring, nigh—
Still tossing, sleepless, on a bed of state,
Surrounded by proud Imps of Spleen and Hate;
Where not a Soul among the selfish tribes,
Moves foot, or finger, but from threats, or bribes!
Thus warn'd by Wisdom, and impell'd by Fear,
While eager to escape such task, austere,
To Daphne's arms impatient Crispin hied,
To taste the bliss Her bosom ne'er denied,
Cast all his cares and sorrows to the wind,
And left black melancholy far behind—
Resolv'd again to ply his pristine trade,
Whose labours Daphne's love still over-paid;
Where in her looks, and on her lips, he found
A balm for ev'ry woe, and ev'ry wound!
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CHAPTER 3rd.
The Life and Poetical Works of James Woodhouse
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