A Collection of Miscellanies Consisting of Poems, Essays, Discourses & Letters, Occasionally Written. By John Norris ... The Second Edition Corrected |
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The Infidel.
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 | A Collection of Miscellanies |  |
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The Infidel.
I
Farewel Fruition, thou grand Cruel Cheat,Which first our hopes dost raise and then defeat.
Farewel thou Midwife to Abortive Bliss,
Thou Mystery of fallacies.
Distance presents the Object fair,
With Charming features and a graceful air,
But when we come to seize th' inviting prey,
Like a Shy Ghost, it vanishes away.
II
So to th' unthinking Boy the distant SkySeems on some Mountain's Surface to relie;
He with ambitious haste climbs the ascent,
Curious to touch the Firmament:
But when with an unweary'd pace
Arriv'd he is at the long-wish'd-for place,
With Sighs the sad defeat he does deplore,
His Heaven is still as distant as before.
III
And yet 'twas long e're I could throughly seeThis grand Impostor's frequent Treachery.
Tho often Fool'd, yet I should still dream on
Of Pleasure in Reversion.
Tho still he did my hopes deceive,
His fair Pretensions I would still believe.
Such was my Charity, that tho I knew
And found him false, yet I would think him true.
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IV
But now he shall no more with shews deceive,I will no more enjoy, no more believe.
Th' unwary Jugler has so often shewn
His Fallacies, that now they'r known.
Shall I trust on? the Cheat is plain,
I will not be impos'd upon again.
I'll view the Bright Appearance from afar,
But never try to catch the falling Star.
| A Collection of Miscellanies | |