The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. Containing, besides his Sermons, and Essays on miscellaneous subjects, several additional pieces, Selected from his Manuscripts by the Rev. Dr. Jennings, and the Rev. Dr. Doddridge, in 1753: to which are prefixed, memoirs of the life of the author, compiled by the Rev. George Burder. In six volumes |
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The Disappointment and Relief.
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 | The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. |  |
The Disappointment and Relief.
I.
Virtue, permit my fancy to imposeUpon my better pow'rs:
She casts sweet fallacies on half our woes,
And gilds the gloomy hours.
How could we bear this tedious round
Of waning moons, and rolling years,
Of flaming hopes, and chilling fears,
If, where no sov'reign cure appears,
No opiates could be found.
II.
Love, the most cordial stream that flows,Is a deceitful good:
Young Doris who nor guilt nor danger knows,
On the green margin stood,
Pleas'd with the golden bubbles as they rose,
And with more golden sands her fancy pav'd the flood:
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And tempted by a faithless youth,
As void of goodness as of truth,
She plunges in with heedless haste,
And rears the nether mud:
Darkness and nauseous dregs arise
O'er thy fair current, love, with large supplies
Of pain to tieze the heart, and sorrow for the eyes.
The golden bliss that charm'd her sight
Is dash'd, and drown'd, and lost;
A spark, or glimm'ring streak at most
Shines here and there, amidst the night,
Amidst the turbid waves, and gives a faint delight.
III.
Recover'd from the sad surprise,Doris awakes at last,
Grown by the disappointment wise;
And manages with art th'unlucky cast;
When the lowring frown she spies
On her haughty tyrant's brow,
With humble love she meets his wrathful eyes,
And makes her sov'reign beauty bow;
Cheerful she smiles upon the grizly form;
So shines the setting sun on adverse skies,
And paints a rainbow on the storm.
Anon she lets the sullen humour spend,
And with a virtuous book or friend,
Beguiles th'uneasy hours:
Well-colouring ev'ry cross she meets,
With heart serene she sleeps and eats,
She spreads her board with fancy'd sweets,
And strews her bed with flow'rs.
| The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D. | |