 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
138
CONTENT
Content's a Crown, that seldom Kings enjoy.
Shak. Hen. 6.
Shak. Hen. 6.
Happy the Man! who all Himself enjoys,
Whom his own Mind regales, but never cloys
Who lives his Life, accountable to none,
To none indebted, but to God alone;
Whose easy Soul no Worldly Lust enslaves,
And Nothing wants, because he Nothing craves.
But whence must this full Stream of Pleasure flow?
Does it's Spring rise from Equipage and Show?
Mistaken All! who climb the Tow'rs of State,
And to be wretched, covet to be Great:
The Halcyon, Peace, in Courts ne'er builds her Nest,
State's but a Golden Sorrow at the Best;
Where stern Ambition and Gigantick Pride,
Make Church-men quarrel and sworn Friends divide.
Whom his own Mind regales, but never cloys
Who lives his Life, accountable to none,
To none indebted, but to God alone;
Whose easy Soul no Worldly Lust enslaves,
And Nothing wants, because he Nothing craves.
But whence must this full Stream of Pleasure flow?
Does it's Spring rise from Equipage and Show?
Mistaken All! who climb the Tow'rs of State,
And to be wretched, covet to be Great:
139
State's but a Golden Sorrow at the Best;
Where stern Ambition and Gigantick Pride,
Make Church-men quarrel and sworn Friends divide.
Where then can this Seraphick Goddess dwell?
Methinks, I see her in the midnight Cell;
Methinks, I hear her whisper from the Woods,
And Lo! she beckons from the silver Floods:
Fir'd at the gentle Signal, I'll retreat
Far from the Follies of the Wretched Great,
Where no rude Passions shall my Bosom move,
Save those dear, best of Passions, Poetry and Love.
Methinks, I see her in the midnight Cell;
Methinks, I hear her whisper from the Woods,
And Lo! she beckons from the silver Floods:
Fir'd at the gentle Signal, I'll retreat
Far from the Follies of the Wretched Great,
Where no rude Passions shall my Bosom move,
Save those dear, best of Passions, Poetry and Love.
Hail! happy Grove! hail! venerable Wood!
Thou, that canst teach us to be Wise and Good!
Ye Sceptred Slaves! and gilded Cares! Farewel!
Here, ye Good Gods! for ever let me dwell.
Where I may view, as from some Mountain's Brow,
The Golden Mis'ries of the World below:
Where from on high I may behold secure
The loud Sea-Wave, that strikes the rocky Shore,
And hear, unmov'd, the far-off Tempest roar.
Thou, that canst teach us to be Wise and Good!
Ye Sceptred Slaves! and gilded Cares! Farewel!
Here, ye Good Gods! for ever let me dwell.
Where I may view, as from some Mountain's Brow,
The Golden Mis'ries of the World below:
140
The loud Sea-Wave, that strikes the rocky Shore,
And hear, unmov'd, the far-off Tempest roar.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |