The Poetical Works of John Langhorne ... To which are prefixed, Memoirs of the Author by his Son the Rev. J. T. Langhorne ... In Two Volumes |
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| THE
ENLARGEMENT OF THE MIND. |
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 | The Poetical Works of John Langhorne |  |
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THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE MIND.
EPISTLE I.
TO GENERAL CRAUFURD.
WRITTEN AT BELVIDERE,
1763.
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Where is the man, who, prodigal of mind,
In one wide wish embraces human kind?
All pride of sects, all party zeal above,
Whose Priest is Reason, and whose God is Love;
Fair Nature's friend, a foe to fraud and art—
Where is the man, so welcome to my heart?
In one wide wish embraces human kind?
All pride of sects, all party zeal above,
Whose Priest is Reason, and whose God is Love;
Fair Nature's friend, a foe to fraud and art—
Where is the man, so welcome to my heart?
The sightless herd sequacious, who pursue
Dull Folly's path, and do as others do,
Who look with purblind prejudice and scorn,
On different sects, in different nations born,
Let Us, my Craufurd, with compassion view,
Pity their pride, but shun their error too.
Dull Folly's path, and do as others do,
Who look with purblind prejudice and scorn,
On different sects, in different nations born,
Let Us, my Craufurd, with compassion view,
Pity their pride, but shun their error too.
From Belvidere's fair groves, and mountains green,
Which Nature rais'd, rejoicing to be seen,
Let Us, while raptur'd on her works we gaze,
And the heart riots on luxurious praise,
Th' expanded thought, the boundless wish retain.
And let not Nature moralize in vain.
Which Nature rais'd, rejoicing to be seen,
Let Us, while raptur'd on her works we gaze,
And the heart riots on luxurious praise,
Th' expanded thought, the boundless wish retain.
And let not Nature moralize in vain.
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O sacred Guide! preceptress more sublime
Than sages boasting o'er the wrecks of time!
See on each page her beauteous volume bear
The golden characters of good and fair.
All human knowledge (blush collegiate pride!)
Flows from her works, to none that reads denied.
Than sages boasting o'er the wrecks of time!
See on each page her beauteous volume bear
The golden characters of good and fair.
All human knowledge (blush collegiate pride!)
Flows from her works, to none that reads denied.
Shall the dull inmate of pedantic walls,
On whose old walk the sunbeam seldom falls,
Who knows of nature, and of man no more
Than fills some page of antiquated lore—
Shall he, in words and terms profoundly wise,
The better knowledge of the world despise,
Think Wisdom center'd in a false degree,
And scorn the scholar of Humanity?
On whose old walk the sunbeam seldom falls,
Who knows of nature, and of man no more
Than fills some page of antiquated lore—
Shall he, in words and terms profoundly wise,
The better knowledge of the world despise,
Think Wisdom center'd in a false degree,
And scorn the scholar of Humanity?
Something of men these sapient drones may know,
Of men that liv'd two thousand years ago.
Such human monsters if the world e'er knew,
As ancient verse, and ancient story drew!
Of men that liv'd two thousand years ago.
Such human monsters if the world e'er knew,
As ancient verse, and ancient story drew!
If to one object, system, scene confin'd,
The sure effect is narrowness of mind.
The sure effect is narrowness of mind.
'Twas thus St. Robert, in his lonely wood,
Forsook each social duty—to be good.
Thus Hobbes on one dear system fix'd his eyes,
And prov'd his nature wretched—to be wise.
Each zealot thus, elate with ghostly pride,
Adores his God, and hates the world beside.
Forsook each social duty—to be good.
Thus Hobbes on one dear system fix'd his eyes,
And prov'd his nature wretched—to be wise.
Each zealot thus, elate with ghostly pride,
Adores his God, and hates the world beside.
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Tho' form'd with powers to grasp this various ball,
Gods! to what meanness may the spirit fall?
Powers that should spread in Reason's orient ray,
How are they darken'd, and debarr'd the day!
Gods! to what meanness may the spirit fall?
Powers that should spread in Reason's orient ray,
How are they darken'd, and debarr'd the day!
When late, where Tajo rolls his ancient tide,
Reflecting clear the mountain's purple side,
Thy genius, Craufurd, Britain's legions led,
And Fear's chill cloud forsook each brightning head,
By nature brave, and generous as thou art,
Say did not human follies vex thy heart?
Glow'd not thy breast indignant, when you saw
The dome of Murder consecrate by Law?
Where fiends, commission'd with the legal rod,
In pure devotion, burn the works of God.
Reflecting clear the mountain's purple side,
Thy genius, Craufurd, Britain's legions led,
And Fear's chill cloud forsook each brightning head,
By nature brave, and generous as thou art,
Say did not human follies vex thy heart?
Glow'd not thy breast indignant, when you saw
The dome of Murder consecrate by Law?
Where fiends, commission'd with the legal rod,
In pure devotion, burn the works of God.
O change me, powers of Nature, if ye can,
Transform me, make me any thing but man.
Yet why? This heart all human kind forgives,
While Gillman loves me, and while Craufurd lives.
Is Nature, all benevolent, to blame
That half her offspring are their mother's shame?
Did she ordain o'er this fair scene of things
The cruelty of priests, or pride of kings?
Tho' worlds lie murder'd for their wealth or fame,
Is Nature all-benevolent to blame?
Transform me, make me any thing but man.
Yet why? This heart all human kind forgives,
While Gillman loves me, and while Craufurd lives.
Is Nature, all benevolent, to blame
That half her offspring are their mother's shame?
Did she ordain o'er this fair scene of things
The cruelty of priests, or pride of kings?
Tho' worlds lie murder'd for their wealth or fame,
Is Nature all-benevolent to blame?
O that the world were emptied of its slaves!
That all the fools were gone, and all the knaves!
Then might we, Craufurd, with delight embrace,
In boundless love, the rest of human race.
But let not knaves misanthropy create,
Nor feed the gall of universal hate.
Wherever Genius, Truth, and Virtue dwell,
Polish'd in courts, or simple in a cell,
All views of country, sects, and creeds apart,
These, these I love, and hold them to my heart.
That all the fools were gone, and all the knaves!
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In boundless love, the rest of human race.
But let not knaves misanthropy create,
Nor feed the gall of universal hate.
Wherever Genius, Truth, and Virtue dwell,
Polish'd in courts, or simple in a cell,
All views of country, sects, and creeds apart,
These, these I love, and hold them to my heart.
Vain of our beauteous isle, and justly vain,
For freedom here, and health, and plenty reign,
We different lots contemptuously compare,
And boast, like children, of a fav'rite's share.
For freedom here, and health, and plenty reign,
We different lots contemptuously compare,
And boast, like children, of a fav'rite's share.
Yet tho' each vale a deeper verdure yields
Than Arno's banks, or Andalusia's fields,
Tho' many a tree-crown'd mountain teems with ore,
Tho' flocks innumerous whiten every shore,
Why should we, thus with Nature's wealth elate,
Behold her different families with hate?
Look on her works—on every page you'll find
Inscrib'd the doctrine of the social mind.
Than Arno's banks, or Andalusia's fields,
Tho' many a tree-crown'd mountain teems with ore,
Tho' flocks innumerous whiten every shore,
Why should we, thus with Nature's wealth elate,
Behold her different families with hate?
Look on her works—on every page you'll find
Inscrib'd the doctrine of the social mind.
See countless worlds of insect being share
Th' unenvied regions of the liberal air!
In the same grove what music void of strife!
Heirs of one stream what tribes of scaly life!
See Earth, and Air, and Fire, and Flood combine
Of general good to aid the great design!
Th' unenvied regions of the liberal air!
In the same grove what music void of strife!
Heirs of one stream what tribes of scaly life!
See Earth, and Air, and Fire, and Flood combine
Of general good to aid the great design!
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Where Ancon drags o'er Lincoln's lurid plain,
Like a slow snake, his dirty-winding train,
Where fogs eternal blot the face of day,
And the lost bittern moans his gloomy way;
As well we might, for unpropitious skies,
The blameless native with his clime despise,
As him who still the poorer lot partakes
Of Biscay's mountains, or Batavia's lakes.
Like a slow snake, his dirty-winding train,
Where fogs eternal blot the face of day,
And the lost bittern moans his gloomy way;
As well we might, for unpropitious skies,
The blameless native with his clime despise,
As him who still the poorer lot partakes
Of Biscay's mountains, or Batavia's lakes.
Yet look once more on Nature's various plan!
Behold, and love her noblest creature man!
She, never partial, on each various zone,
Bestow'd some portion, to the rest unknown,
By mutual interest meaning thence to bind
In one vast chain the commerce of mankind.
Behold, and love her noblest creature man!
She, never partial, on each various zone,
Bestow'd some portion, to the rest unknown,
By mutual interest meaning thence to bind
In one vast chain the commerce of mankind.
Behold, ye vain disturbers of an hour!
Ye dupes of Faction! and ye tools of Power!
Poor rioters on Life's contracted stage!
Behold, and lose your littleness of rage!
Throw Envy, Folly, Prejudice behind!
And yield to Truth the empire of the mind.
Ye dupes of Faction! and ye tools of Power!
Poor rioters on Life's contracted stage!
Behold, and lose your littleness of rage!
Throw Envy, Folly, Prejudice behind!
And yield to Truth the empire of the mind.
Immortal Truth! O from thy radiant shrine,
Where light created first essay'd to shine;
Where clust'ring stars eternal beams display,
And gems ethereal drink the golden day;
To chase this moral, clear this sensual night,
O shed one ray of thy celestial light!
Teach us, while wandering thro' this vale below
We know but little, that we little know.
One beam to mole-ey'd Prejudice convey,
Let Pride perceive one mortifying ray.
Thy glass to fools, to infidels apply,
And all the dimness of the mental eye.
Where light created first essay'd to shine;
Where clust'ring stars eternal beams display,
And gems ethereal drink the golden day;
To chase this moral, clear this sensual night,
O shed one ray of thy celestial light!
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We know but little, that we little know.
One beam to mole-ey'd Prejudice convey,
Let Pride perceive one mortifying ray.
Thy glass to fools, to infidels apply,
And all the dimness of the mental eye.
Plac'd on this shore of Time's far-stretching bourn,
With leave to look at Nature and return;
While wave on wave impels the human tide,
And ages sink, forgotten as they glide;
Can life's short duties better be discharg'd,
Than when we leave it with a mind enlarg'd?
With leave to look at Nature and return;
While wave on wave impels the human tide,
And ages sink, forgotten as they glide;
Can life's short duties better be discharg'd,
Than when we leave it with a mind enlarg'd?
Judg'd not the old philosopher aright,
When thus he preach'd, his pupils in his sight?
“It matters not, my friends, how low or high
“Your little walk of transient life may lie.
“Soon will the reign of Hope and Fear be o'er,
“And warring passions militate no more.
“And trust me, he who, having once survey'd
“The good and fair which Nature's wisdom made,
“The soonest to his former state retires,
“And feels the peace of satisfied desires,
“(Let others deem more wisely if they can),
“I look on him to be the happiest man.”
When thus he preach'd, his pupils in his sight?
“It matters not, my friends, how low or high
“Your little walk of transient life may lie.
“Soon will the reign of Hope and Fear be o'er,
“And warring passions militate no more.
“And trust me, he who, having once survey'd
“The good and fair which Nature's wisdom made,
“The soonest to his former state retires,
“And feels the peace of satisfied desires,
“(Let others deem more wisely if they can),
“I look on him to be the happiest man.”
So thought the sacred Sage, in whom I trust,
Because I feel his sentiments are just.
'Twas not in lustrums of long counted years
That swell'd th' alternate reign of hopes and fears;
Not in the splendid scenes of pain and strife,
That Wisdom plac'd the dignity of life:
To study Nature was the task design'd,
And learn from her th' enlargement of the mind.
Learn from her works whatever Truth admires,
And sleep in death with satisfied desires.
Because I feel his sentiments are just.
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That swell'd th' alternate reign of hopes and fears;
Not in the splendid scenes of pain and strife,
That Wisdom plac'd the dignity of life:
To study Nature was the task design'd,
And learn from her th' enlargement of the mind.
Learn from her works whatever Truth admires,
And sleep in death with satisfied desires.
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EPISTLE II.
TO
WILLIAM LANGHORNE, MA.
WRITTEN IN 1765
99
Light heard his voice, and, eager to obey,
From all her orient fountains burst away.
From all her orient fountains burst away.
At Nature's birth, O! had the power divine
Commanded thus the moral sun to shine,
Beam'd on the mind all Reason's influence bright,
And the full day of intellectual light,
Then the free soul, on Truth's strong pinion born,
Had never languish'd in this shade forlorn.
Commanded thus the moral sun to shine,
Beam'd on the mind all Reason's influence bright,
And the full day of intellectual light,
Then the free soul, on Truth's strong pinion born,
Had never languish'd in this shade forlorn.
Yet thus imperfect form'd, thus blind and vain,
Doom'd by long toil a glimpse of truth to gain;
Beyond its sphere shall human wisdom go,
And boldly censure what it cannot know?
For what Heav'n gave let us the donor bless,
Nor than their merits rank our mercies less.
'Tis ours to cherish what Heav'n deign'd to give,
And thankful for the gift of being to live.
Doom'd by long toil a glimpse of truth to gain;
Beyond its sphere shall human wisdom go,
And boldly censure what it cannot know?
For what Heav'n gave let us the donor bless,
Nor than their merits rank our mercies less.
'Tis ours to cherish what Heav'n deign'd to give,
And thankful for the gift of being to live.
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Progressive powers, and faculties that rise
From earth's low vale, to grasp the golden skies,
Tho' distant far from perfect, good, or fair,
Claim the due thought, and ask the grateful care.
From earth's low vale, to grasp the golden skies,
Tho' distant far from perfect, good, or fair,
Claim the due thought, and ask the grateful care.
Come, then, thou partner of my life and name,
From one dear source, whom Nature form'd the same,
Ally'd more nearly in each nobler part,
And more the friend, than brother, of my heart!
Let us, unlike the lucid twins that rise
At different times, and shine in distant skies,
With mutual eye this mental world survey,
Mark the slow rise of intellectual day,
View Reason's source, if man the source may find,
And trace each science that exalts the mind.
From one dear source, whom Nature form'd the same,
Ally'd more nearly in each nobler part,
And more the friend, than brother, of my heart!
Let us, unlike the lucid twins that rise
At different times, and shine in distant skies,
With mutual eye this mental world survey,
Mark the slow rise of intellectual day,
View Reason's source, if man the source may find,
And trace each science that exalts the mind.
“Thou self-appointed Lord of all below!
“Ambitious Man, how little dost thou know?
“For once let Fancy's towering thoughts subside;
“Look on thy birth, and mortify thy pride!
“A plaintive wretch, so blind, so helpless born,
“The brute sagacious might behold with scorn.
“How soon, when Nature gives him to the day,
“In strength exulting, does he bound away!
“By instinct led, the fostering teat he finds,
“Sports in the ray, and shuns the searching winds.
“No grief he knows, he feels no groundless fear,
“Feeds without cries, and sleeps without a tear.
“Did he but know to reason and compare,
“See here the vassal, and the master there,
“What strange reflections must the scene afford,
“That shew'd the weakness of his puling lord!”
“Ambitious Man, how little dost thou know?
“For once let Fancy's towering thoughts subside;
“Look on thy birth, and mortify thy pride!
“A plaintive wretch, so blind, so helpless born,
“The brute sagacious might behold with scorn.
“How soon, when Nature gives him to the day,
“In strength exulting, does he bound away!
“By instinct led, the fostering teat he finds,
“Sports in the ray, and shuns the searching winds.
“No grief he knows, he feels no groundless fear,
“Feeds without cries, and sleeps without a tear.
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“See here the vassal, and the master there,
“What strange reflections must the scene afford,
“That shew'd the weakness of his puling lord!”
Thus Sophistry unfolds her specious plan,
Form'd not to humble, but depreciate man.
Unjust the censure, if unjust to rate
His pow'rs and merits from his infant-state.
For, grant the children of the flow'ry vale
By instinct wiser, and of limbs more hale,
With equal eye their perfect state explore,
And all the vain comparison's no more.
Form'd not to humble, but depreciate man.
Unjust the censure, if unjust to rate
His pow'rs and merits from his infant-state.
For, grant the children of the flow'ry vale
By instinct wiser, and of limbs more hale,
With equal eye their perfect state explore,
And all the vain comparison's no more.
“But why should life, so short by Heav'n ordain'd,
“Be long to thoughtless infancy restrain'd—
“To thoughtless infancy, or vainly sage,
“Mourn through the languors of declining age?”
“Be long to thoughtless infancy restrain'd—
“To thoughtless infancy, or vainly sage,
“Mourn through the languors of declining age?”
O blind to truth! to Nature's wisdom blind!
And all that she directs, or Heav'n design'd!
Behold her works in cities, plains, and groves,
All life that vegetates, and life that moves!
In due proportion, as each being stays
In perfect life, it rises and decays.
And all that she directs, or Heav'n design'd!
Behold her works in cities, plains, and groves,
All life that vegetates, and life that moves!
In due proportion, as each being stays
In perfect life, it rises and decays.
Is Man long helpless? Through each tender hour,
See love parental watch the blooming flow'r!
By op'ning charms, by beauties fresh display'd,
And sweets unfolding, see that love repaid!
See love parental watch the blooming flow'r!
By op'ning charms, by beauties fresh display'd,
And sweets unfolding, see that love repaid!
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Has age its pains? For luxury it may—
The temp'rate wear insensibly away.
While sage experience, and reflection clear
Beam a gay sunshine on life's fading year.
The temp'rate wear insensibly away.
While sage experience, and reflection clear
Beam a gay sunshine on life's fading year.
But see from age, from infant weakness see,
That Man was destin'd for society;
There from those ills a safe retreat behold,
Which young might vanquish, or afflict him old.
That Man was destin'd for society;
There from those ills a safe retreat behold,
Which young might vanquish, or afflict him old.
“That, in proportion as each being stays
“In perfect life, it rises and decays—
“Is Nature's law—to forms alone confin'd,
“The laws of matter act not on the Mind.
“Too feebly, sure, its faculties must grow,
“And Reason brings her borrow'd light too slow.”
“In perfect life, it rises and decays—
“Is Nature's law—to forms alone confin'd,
“The laws of matter act not on the Mind.
“Too feebly, sure, its faculties must grow,
“And Reason brings her borrow'd light too slow.”
O! still censorious? Art thou then possess'd
Of Reason's power, and does she rule thy breast?
Say what the use—had Providence assign'd
To infant years maturity of mind?
That thy pert offspring, as their father wise,
Might scorn thy precepts, and thy pow'r despise?
Or mourn, with ill-match'd faculties at strife,
O'er limbs unequal to the task of life?
To feel more sensibly the woes that wait
On every period, as on every state;
And slight, sad convicts of each painful truth,
The happier trifles of unthinking youth?
Of Reason's power, and does she rule thy breast?
Say what the use—had Providence assign'd
To infant years maturity of mind?
That thy pert offspring, as their father wise,
Might scorn thy precepts, and thy pow'r despise?
Or mourn, with ill-match'd faculties at strife,
O'er limbs unequal to the task of life?
To feel more sensibly the woes that wait
On every period, as on every state;
And slight, sad convicts of each painful truth,
The happier trifles of unthinking youth?
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Conclude we then the progress of the mind
Ordain'd by wisdom infinitely kind:
No innate knowledge on the soul imprest,
No birth-right instinct acting in the breast,
No natal light, no beams from Heav'n display'd,
Dart thro' the darkness of the mental shade.
Perceptive powers we hold from Heaven's decree,
Alike to knowledge as to virtue free,
In both a lib'ral agency we bear,
The moral here, the intellectual there;
And hence in both an equal joy is known,
The conscious pleasure of an act our own.
Ordain'd by wisdom infinitely kind:
No innate knowledge on the soul imprest,
No birth-right instinct acting in the breast,
No natal light, no beams from Heav'n display'd,
Dart thro' the darkness of the mental shade.
Perceptive powers we hold from Heaven's decree,
Alike to knowledge as to virtue free,
In both a lib'ral agency we bear,
The moral here, the intellectual there;
And hence in both an equal joy is known,
The conscious pleasure of an act our own.
When first the trembling eye receives the day,
External forms on young perception play;
External forms affect the mind alone,
Their diff'rent pow'rs and properties unknown.
See the pleas'd infant court the flaming brand,
Eager to grasp the glory in its hand!
The crystal wave as eager to pervade,
Stretch its fond arms to meet the smiling shade!
When Memory's call the mimic words obey,
And wing the thought that faulters on its way;
When wise Experience her slow verdict draws,
The sure effect exploring in the cause,
In Nature's rude, but not unfruitful wild,
Reflection springs, and Reason is her child:
On her fair stock the blooming scyon grows,
And brighter thro' revolving seasons blows.
External forms on young perception play;
External forms affect the mind alone,
Their diff'rent pow'rs and properties unknown.
See the pleas'd infant court the flaming brand,
Eager to grasp the glory in its hand!
The crystal wave as eager to pervade,
Stretch its fond arms to meet the smiling shade!
When Memory's call the mimic words obey,
And wing the thought that faulters on its way;
When wise Experience her slow verdict draws,
The sure effect exploring in the cause,
In Nature's rude, but not unfruitful wild,
Reflection springs, and Reason is her child:
On her fair stock the blooming scyon grows,
And brighter thro' revolving seasons blows.
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All beauteous flow'r! immortal shalt thou shine,
When dim with age yon golden orbs decline;
Thy orient bloom, unconscious of decay,
Shall spread and flourish in eternal day.
When dim with age yon golden orbs decline;
Thy orient bloom, unconscious of decay,
Shall spread and flourish in eternal day.
O! with what art, my friend, what early care,
Should Wisdom cultivate a plant so fair!
How should her eye the rip'ning mind revise,
And blast the buds of Folly as they rise!
How should her hand with industry restrain,
The thriving growth of Passion's fruitful train,
Aspiring weeds, whose lofty arms would tow'r
With fatal shade o'er Reason's tender flow'r.
Should Wisdom cultivate a plant so fair!
How should her eye the rip'ning mind revise,
And blast the buds of Folly as they rise!
How should her hand with industry restrain,
The thriving growth of Passion's fruitful train,
Aspiring weeds, whose lofty arms would tow'r
With fatal shade o'er Reason's tender flow'r.
From low pursuits the ductile mind to save,
Creeds that contract, and vices that enslave;
O'er life's rough seas its doubtful course to steer,
Unbroke by av'rice, bigotry, or fear!
For this fair Science spreads her light afar,
And fills the bright urn of her eastern star.
The liberal power in no sequester'd cells,
No moonshine courts of dreaming schoolmen dwells;
Distinguish'd far her lofty temple stands,
Where the tall mountain looks o'er distant lands;
All round her throne the graceful arts appear,
That boast the empire of the eye or ear.
Creeds that contract, and vices that enslave;
O'er life's rough seas its doubtful course to steer,
Unbroke by av'rice, bigotry, or fear!
For this fair Science spreads her light afar,
And fills the bright urn of her eastern star.
The liberal power in no sequester'd cells,
No moonshine courts of dreaming schoolmen dwells;
Distinguish'd far her lofty temple stands,
Where the tall mountain looks o'er distant lands;
All round her throne the graceful arts appear,
That boast the empire of the eye or ear.
See favour'd first, and nearest to the throne
By the rapt mien of musing Silence known,
Fled from herself, the Pow'r of Numbers plac'd,
Her wild thoughts watch'd by Harmony and Taste.
By the rapt mien of musing Silence known,
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Her wild thoughts watch'd by Harmony and Taste.
There (but at distance never meant to vie)
The full-form'd image glancing on her eye,
See lively Painting! On her various face
Quick-gliding forms a moment find a place;
She looks, she acts the character she gives,
And a new feature in each feature lives.
The full-form'd image glancing on her eye,
See lively Painting! On her various face
Quick-gliding forms a moment find a place;
She looks, she acts the character she gives,
And a new feature in each feature lives.
See attic ease in Sculpture's graceful air,
Half loose her robe, and half unbound her hair;
To life, to life, she smiling seems to call,
And down her fair hands negligently fall.
Half loose her robe, and half unbound her hair;
To life, to life, she smiling seems to call,
And down her fair hands negligently fall.
Last, but not meanest, of the glorious choir,
See Music, list'ning to an angel's lyre.
See Music, list'ning to an angel's lyre.
Simplicity, their beauteous handmaid, drest
By Nature, bears a field-flower on her breast.
By Nature, bears a field-flower on her breast.
O Arts divine! O magic Powers that move
The springs of truth, enlarging truth, and love!
Lost in their charms each mean attachment ends,
And Taste and Knowledge thus are Virtue's friends.
The springs of truth, enlarging truth, and love!
Lost in their charms each mean attachment ends,
And Taste and Knowledge thus are Virtue's friends.
Thus Nature deigns to sympathize with art,
And leads the moral beauty to the heart;
There, only there, that strong attraction lies,
Which wakes the soul, and bids her graces rise;
Lives in those powers of harmony that bind
Congenial hearts, and stretch from mind to mind:
Glow'd in that warmth, that social kindness gave,
Which once—the rest is silence and the grave.
And leads the moral beauty to the heart;
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Which wakes the soul, and bids her graces rise;
Lives in those powers of harmony that bind
Congenial hearts, and stretch from mind to mind:
Glow'd in that warmth, that social kindness gave,
Which once—the rest is silence and the grave.
O tears, that warm from wounded Friendship flow!
O thoughts that wake to monuments of woe!
Reflection keen, that points the painful dart;
Mem'ry, that speeds its passage to the heart;
Sad monitors, your cruel power suspend,
And hide, for ever hide, the buried friend:
—In vain—confest I see my Craufurd stand,
And the pen falls—falls from my trembling hand.
E'en Death's dim shadow seeks to hide, in vain,
That lib'ral aspect, and that smile humane;
E'en Death's dim shadow wears a languid light,
And his eye beams thro' everlasting night.
O thoughts that wake to monuments of woe!
Reflection keen, that points the painful dart;
Mem'ry, that speeds its passage to the heart;
Sad monitors, your cruel power suspend,
And hide, for ever hide, the buried friend:
—In vain—confest I see my Craufurd stand,
And the pen falls—falls from my trembling hand.
E'en Death's dim shadow seeks to hide, in vain,
That lib'ral aspect, and that smile humane;
E'en Death's dim shadow wears a languid light,
And his eye beams thro' everlasting night.
'Till the last sigh of Genius shall expire,
His keen eye faded, and extinct his fire,
'Till Time, in league with Envy and with Death,
Blast the skill'd hand, and stop the tuneful breath,
My Craufurd still shall claim the mournful song,
So long remember'd, and bewail'd so long.
His keen eye faded, and extinct his fire,
'Till Time, in league with Envy and with Death,
Blast the skill'd hand, and stop the tuneful breath,
My Craufurd still shall claim the mournful song,
So long remember'd, and bewail'd so long.
| The Poetical Works of John Langhorne | |