University of Virginia Library

Lines

Suggested By Seeing A Butterfly Sculptured Upon A Tomb

Fit emblem of th' immortal soul! though thou
Art soaring high, thou didst inhabit once
A dark and loathsome mansion. Such is man,
Like to the worm, which once thou wast, he creeps
Encumber'd now by earthly bonds, which check
His eager flight, and to a narrower
Sphere confine his untried powers; lest perhaps
The soul ascending premature might fall
Supported by too feeble wing. Attend
O man! and learn thy destiny, which hand
Divine has traced on nature's works. Seasons
In their ceaseless round proclaim it; darkness
And light; and ocean's ebb and flow in turn
Succeeding; sun and moon oft veil'd in dim
Eclipse; calm succeeding tempest; nature
Through all her works proclaims it, from the orbs,
That wheel their courses through the void immense,
To insect fluttering in the summer's breeze,
All, all proclaim the destiny of man.
Learn then O man! from such unnumber'd signs,
Where lies thy happiness, whence thy being
Sprang and whither tends: if with an upward
Flight thou hop'st to soar, when from this earthly
Coil thou'rt freed; plume thy wings while here below;
Cast off what then may clog thy flight, and bear
Thee down. Passions fierce attack, attack most
Direful; lust, poisoning the relish
Of the soul for all that's pure; indolence,
With slow yet ceaseless course eating its way,
Like rust, into the mind, and deadening all
Its energies: these and thousand nameless foes,
That strive to fix thy thoughts on things below
Thy noble destiny, repel; then, like
The phoenix, thou shalt rise triumphant from
Thine ashes; and, on untiring pinions,
Heaven-ward borne shalt seek thy resting place.