Poems on Several Occasions ... To which is added, the Plague of Wealth, Occasion'd By the Author's receiving fifty Pounds from his Excellency the Lord Carteret, for the foremention'd Ode. With several Poems not in the Dublin Edition. By Matthew Pilkington. Revised by the Reverend Dr. Swift |
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To LYCIDAS in the Countrey.
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| XXXIV. |
 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
To LYCIDAS in the Countrey.
Dear absent Friend, with Wisdom bless'd,
Of all that's Good and Great possess'd,
What gay Contrivance shall I find
To cheer thy Spleen-distemper'd Mind,
To chase the pensive Hours away,
And bid thy Solitude be gay?
Of all that's Good and Great possess'd,
What gay Contrivance shall I find
To cheer thy Spleen-distemper'd Mind,
To chase the pensive Hours away,
And bid thy Solitude be gay?
84
You bid me write—: for Verse you cry
Can raise the Soul to soar on high,
Can ev'ry rapt'rous Joy impart,
And pleasingly improve the Heart.
Can raise the Soul to soar on high,
Can ev'ry rapt'rous Joy impart,
And pleasingly improve the Heart.
All this, dear Friend, I freely grant,
But Ease and Solitude I want,
I want those calm Delights that raise
The raptur'd Soul to lofty Lays.
But Ease and Solitude I want,
I want those calm Delights that raise
The raptur'd Soul to lofty Lays.
From me can tuneful Numbers flow,
Whose harrass'd Thoughts no Respite know?
From me whom anxious Cares perplex,
And never-ending Labours vex,
Confin'd to Town, tormenting Pain!
Where Hurry, Noise, and Nonsense reign?
Whose harrass'd Thoughts no Respite know?
From me whom anxious Cares perplex,
And never-ending Labours vex,
85
Where Hurry, Noise, and Nonsense reign?
Now call'd, perhaps, away in haste,
To tend a Matrimonial Feast,
And join some venal-hearted Pair,
Who make not Love, but Wealth their Care,
Slight the pure Union's nobler Ends,
And Marry—, just to please their Friends.
To tend a Matrimonial Feast,
And join some venal-hearted Pair,
Who make not Love, but Wealth their Care,
Slight the pure Union's nobler Ends,
And Marry—, just to please their Friends.
From thence with hasty Steps I go,
To Scenes of Poverty and Woe,
And taught, by what I there survey,
I moralize the Hours away.
To Scenes of Poverty and Woe,
And taught, by what I there survey,
I moralize the Hours away.
86
Can these excite that heav'nly Fire,
Which must the Poet's Song inspire?
Which must the Poet's Song inspire?
No—! the gay Sons of Phæbus love
The silent, thick-embow'ring Grove,
To lye beside the limpid Spring,
And hear the wood-born Warblers sing,
To wander o'er sequestred Scenes,
Or tread the Flow'r-enammel'd Plains,
Or near a Cowslip'd Bank reclin'd
To catch the Fragrance from the Wind,
Of Noise and Crowds, and Cares afraid,
High rapt in Solitude and Shade.
The silent, thick-embow'ring Grove,
To lye beside the limpid Spring,
And hear the wood-born Warblers sing,
To wander o'er sequestred Scenes,
Or tread the Flow'r-enammel'd Plains,
Or near a Cowslip'd Bank reclin'd
To catch the Fragrance from the Wind,
Of Noise and Crowds, and Cares afraid,
High rapt in Solitude and Shade.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |