Poems on Various Subjects with some Essays in Prose, Letters to Correspondents, &c. and A Treatise on Health. By Samuel Bowden |
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DIRECTIONS,
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 | Poems on Various Subjects |  |
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DIRECTIONS,
How to Steer with EASE and SAFETY, O'ER THE Rough, Tempestuous SEA of LIFE.
By the Same.
If thro' the rugged road of life,
An easy course you'd glide.
Free from affliction, care and strife,
These rules shou'd be your guide.
An easy course you'd glide.
Free from affliction, care and strife,
These rules shou'd be your guide.
Your spring of life to heaven devote,
Religion will bestow,
The safest, surest antidote,
For every mortal woe.
Religion will bestow,
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For every mortal woe.
Let virtue, bright, immortal maid,
Be your unerring guide;
And wisdom, with celestial aid,
O'er all your steps preside.
Be your unerring guide;
And wisdom, with celestial aid,
O'er all your steps preside.
Thro' life be this resolve pursu'd,
Whate'er your lot shall be,
To act with honest rectitude,
And keep a conscience free.
Whate'er your lot shall be,
To act with honest rectitude,
And keep a conscience free.
Hope not your happiness to find
Abroad, but homewards bend,
And ever let your peace of mind,
Upon yourself depend.
Abroad, but homewards bend,
And ever let your peace of mind,
Upon yourself depend.
Passion and fancy, hope and fear,
Will sometimes gild the scene,
But move within bright reason's sphere,
And keep the golden mean.
Will sometimes gild the scene,
But move within bright reason's sphere,
And keep the golden mean.
Hope not for wild, romantic bliss,
Nor wish a lofty state,
The first is follys paradise,
The last a war with fate.
Nor wish a lofty state,
The first is follys paradise,
The last a war with fate.
Seek not from gold your happiness,
Nor in that bubble fame,
Pain, care, disease, the rich oppress,
And envy blasts a name.
Nor in that bubble fame,
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And envy blasts a name.
Fondly by childish fancy led,
Ne'er seek for bliss complete;
Pain's twisted in life's slender thread,
And care in every state.
Ne'er seek for bliss complete;
Pain's twisted in life's slender thread,
And care in every state.
Sufficient ills in life arise,
Then why, with cruel art,
Shou'd we new cares, new pains devise,
And groan with fancy'd smart?
Then why, with cruel art,
Shou'd we new cares, new pains devise,
And groan with fancy'd smart?
But since, while on this stage of life
Fortune oft' shifts the scene;
Since every state with care is rife,
And pain will intervene.
Fortune oft' shifts the scene;
Since every state with care is rife,
And pain will intervene.
Arm well, with fortitude, your mind,
And shou'd distresses rise;
Think 'tis by Providence design'd,
To teach us to be wise.
And shou'd distresses rise;
Think 'tis by Providence design'd,
To teach us to be wise.
If smiling fortune shou'd appear,
And glittering gifts bestow,
Of pride and vanity beware,
Nor swell with fortune's flow.
And glittering gifts bestow,
Of pride and vanity beware,
Nor swell with fortune's flow.
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Thus arm'd—when cares and griefs arise,
(For rise they often will)
Serenely calm, without surprise,
You'll meet the lessen'd ill.
(For rise they often will)
Serenely calm, without surprise,
You'll meet the lessen'd ill.
With steady mind, and equal soul,
You'll view the changing scene;
On soft content the hours shall roll,
And all be peace within.
You'll view the changing scene;
On soft content the hours shall roll,
And all be peace within.
And when the dangerous journey's past,
And shades of death arise,
In death's embrace you'll sweetly rest,
And wake in happier skys.
And shades of death arise,
In death's embrace you'll sweetly rest,
And wake in happier skys.
| Poems on Various Subjects | |