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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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| XXXIV. |
HAPPINESS.
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
140
HAPPINESS.
Plagu'd with Dependence on the Great
To raise me from my humble State;
With paying Court to faithless Friends,
Who disappointed all my Ends;
With wasting all my blooming Years
In endless Toils, and Hopes, and Fears;
How fondly longs my Soul to gain
The calm, uncrowded, rural Scene!
To fly the Man whose treach'rous Art
Deludes the undesigning Heart!
No Calumny, no pale-cheek'd Care,
No Envy shall attend me there.
There seated near a gliding Stream,
Intent on some inspiring Theme,
Or wand'ring o'er the flow'ry Vale,
Imbibing Joy from ev'ry Gale,
I strive that blissful State to gain
So fondly sought, so sought in vain.
To raise me from my humble State;
With paying Court to faithless Friends,
Who disappointed all my Ends;
With wasting all my blooming Years
In endless Toils, and Hopes, and Fears;
How fondly longs my Soul to gain
The calm, uncrowded, rural Scene!
To fly the Man whose treach'rous Art
Deludes the undesigning Heart!
No Calumny, no pale-cheek'd Care,
No Envy shall attend me there.
141
Intent on some inspiring Theme,
Or wand'ring o'er the flow'ry Vale,
Imbibing Joy from ev'ry Gale,
I strive that blissful State to gain
So fondly sought, so sought in vain.
Vain are our fondest Hopes of Bliss
From such a faithless World as this,
Where Vice in ev'ry Form appears,
In wanton Youth, and palsy'd Years;
Where Villany exalted shines,
And Merit unregarded pines;
Angelic Probity's unpriz'd,
And Heav'n-descended Truth despis'd;
Where Friendship's Name conceals a Knave
Subtle, and studious to deceive,
(A Corvus, who with great Success,
At once can murder and caress;)
Where triumphs self-adoring Pride,
Where Virtue's scorn'd, and God defy'd.
From such a faithless World as this,
Where Vice in ev'ry Form appears,
In wanton Youth, and palsy'd Years;
Where Villany exalted shines,
And Merit unregarded pines;
Angelic Probity's unpriz'd,
And Heav'n-descended Truth despis'd;
142
Subtle, and studious to deceive,
(A Corvus, who with great Success,
At once can murder and caress;)
Where triumphs self-adoring Pride,
Where Virtue's scorn'd, and God defy'd.
Too long deceiv'd I strove to know
Felicity in Things below.
But now, O Pow'r supreme! I see
True Happiness resides with thee,
With thee, whose Wisdom guides on high
The Worlds of Light that gild the Sky,
And made this Earth a Place of Pain,
A mix'd unsatisfying Scene.
Felicity in Things below.
But now, O Pow'r supreme! I see
True Happiness resides with thee,
With thee, whose Wisdom guides on high
The Worlds of Light that gild the Sky,
And made this Earth a Place of Pain,
A mix'd unsatisfying Scene.
143
Let Wealth have Wings, and Friends profest
Stab the sincere unguarded Breast:
Preferment's golden Show'r be shed
On Clodio's undeserving Head:
Or Calumny's envenom'd Dart
Transfix me in the tend'rest Part:
Since no Distress in Time or Place,
Can make eternal Goodness cease,
In God alone my raptur'd Mind
Unmix'd Felicity shall find.
Stab the sincere unguarded Breast:
Preferment's golden Show'r be shed
On Clodio's undeserving Head:
Or Calumny's envenom'd Dart
Transfix me in the tend'rest Part:
Since no Distress in Time or Place,
Can make eternal Goodness cease,
In God alone my raptur'd Mind
Unmix'd Felicity shall find.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |