Poems on Several Occasions by Samuel Wesley. The Second Edition, with Additions |
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To a Young Gentleman,
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 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
To a Young Gentleman,
On his Recovery from a Fit of Sickness.
I, who was late concern'd to hear
The Danger of a Life so dear,
Would now a friendly Verse employ
To claim an Interest in your Joy;
Joy to Your-self, a second Time
Rescued from falling in your Prime;
Joy to your Parents, happy now,
To whom so often Life You owe,
As guarded by a Father's Care,
Or granted to a Mother's Pray'r.
How did They mourn Your early Bloom,
The Promise of a Man to come!
The pleasing Hope they us'd to raise,
When planning of Your future Days!
What Pangs the former Transport cost,
Which seem'd, alas! for ever lost!
What Tenderness of Grief! which You,
'Till You're a Parent, cannot know:
For who can know except they feel
The Pains that are unspeakable?
Pains that are heighten'd to Excess,
By Thoughts of transient Happiness.
So various Scenes amuse the Eye
In Clouds that paint a Summer's Sky;
Short Pleasure! ev'ry fleeting Breeze
Destroys the wav'ring Images;
Well, if the Prospect disappears
Without dissolving into Tears.
The Danger of a Life so dear,
Would now a friendly Verse employ
To claim an Interest in your Joy;
Joy to Your-self, a second Time
Rescued from falling in your Prime;
Joy to your Parents, happy now,
To whom so often Life You owe,
As guarded by a Father's Care,
Or granted to a Mother's Pray'r.
How did They mourn Your early Bloom,
The Promise of a Man to come!
The pleasing Hope they us'd to raise,
When planning of Your future Days!
What Pangs the former Transport cost,
Which seem'd, alas! for ever lost!
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'Till You're a Parent, cannot know:
For who can know except they feel
The Pains that are unspeakable?
Pains that are heighten'd to Excess,
By Thoughts of transient Happiness.
So various Scenes amuse the Eye
In Clouds that paint a Summer's Sky;
Short Pleasure! ev'ry fleeting Breeze
Destroys the wav'ring Images;
Well, if the Prospect disappears
Without dissolving into Tears.
O tread in Virtue's happy Road,
True to Your-self, and to your God:
To Him perpetual Homage give,
And live to Him, by whom You live:
No vicious Course your Youth engage,
To treasure Sorrow for your Age;
That none, by Blood or Love ally'd,
Have Cause to wish you now had dy'd;
That each one, who your Worth surveys,
May bless the length'ning of your Days.
'Tis well if all your coming Years
May pay a Father for his Tears;
If Joy, that from Your Welfare flows,
May recompence a Mother's Woes.
True to Your-self, and to your God:
To Him perpetual Homage give,
And live to Him, by whom You live:
No vicious Course your Youth engage,
To treasure Sorrow for your Age;
That none, by Blood or Love ally'd,
Have Cause to wish you now had dy'd;
That each one, who your Worth surveys,
May bless the length'ning of your Days.
'Tis well if all your coming Years
May pay a Father for his Tears;
If Joy, that from Your Welfare flows,
May recompence a Mother's Woes.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |