University of Virginia Library


113

ODE IX.

Peter moralizeth, and giveth good Advice.

Envy and Jealousy, that pair of devils
Stuff'd like Pandora's box with wondrous evils,
I hate, abhor, abominate, detest,
Like Circe turning man into a beast.
Beneath their cankering breath no bud can blow;
Their black'ning pow'r resembles smut in corn,
Which kills the rising ears, that should adorn,
And bid the vales with golden plenty glow.
Yet fierce, in yonder dome , each demon reigns;
Their poison swells too many an artist's veins,
Draws from each lab'ring heart the fearful sigh,
And casts a sullen gloom on ev'ry eye.
Brushmen! accept the counsel Peter sends,
Who scorns th' acquaintance of this brace of fiends:
Should any with uncommon talents tow'r;
To any is superior science giv'n—
O, let the weaker feel their happy pow'r,
Like plants that triumph in the dews of heav'n.
Be pleas'd, like Reynolds, to direct the blind;
Who aids the feeble falt'ring feet of youth;
Unfolds the ample volume of his mind,
With genius stor'd and nature's simple truth:
Who, though a sun, resembles not his brother,
Whose beams so full of jealousy, conspire,
Whene'er admitted to the room, to smother
The humble kitchen, or the parlour fire.
 

The Royal Academy.