 | Poems (1717) |  |
ODE UPON SOLITUDE
I.
Hail, Sacred Solitude! from this calm Bay,I view the World's Tempestuous Sea,
And with wise Pride despise
All those senseless Vanities:
With Pity mov'd for others, cast away
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On Rocks of Folly, and of Vice I see 'em lost:
Some the prevailing Malice of the Great,
Unhappy Men, or Adverse Fate,
Sunk deep into the Gulphs of an afflicted State.
But more, far more, a numberless prodigious Train,
Whilst Virtue courts'em, but alas in vain,
Fly from her kind embracing Arms,
Deaf to her fondest Call, blind to her greatest Charms,
And sunk in Pleasures, and in brutish Ease,
They in their Shipwreck'd State themselves obdurate please.
II.
Hail, Sacred Solitude, Soul of my Soul,It is by thee I truly live,
Thou dost a better Life and nobler Vigour give;
Dost each unruly Appetite controul:
Thy constant Quiet fills my peaceful Breast,
With unmix'd Joy, uninterrupted Rest.
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This private Solitary Shade;
And, with fantastick Wounds by Beauty made,
The Joy has no Allay of Jealousy, Hope, and Fear,
The Solid Comforts of this happy Sphere;
Yet I exalted Love admire,
Friendship, abhorring sordid Gain,
And purify'd from Lust's dishonest Stain:
Nor is it for my Solitude unfit,
For I am with my Friend alone,
As if we were but one;
'Tis the polluted Love that multiplies,
But Friendship does two Souls in one comprise.
III.
Here in a full and constant Tide doth flowAll Blessings Man can hope to know;
Here in a deep Recess of Thought we find
Pleasures which entertain, and which exalt the Mind;
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Which make us happy, as they make us wise:
Here may I always on this downy Grass,
Unknown, unseen, my easy Minutes pass:
'Till with a gentle Force Victorious Death
My Solitude invade,
And, stopping for a-while my Breath,
With Ease convey me to a better Shade.
| Poems (1717) | |