Essays upon Several Subjects In Prose and Verse :: :: University of Virginia Library

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;

As Man be proud, whom nobler Forms despise
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.

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