COMPENSATION.
Wouldst thou from each man's coronal select
The choicest leaf wherewith his brows are deckt;
That all into one chaplet for thy head
Entwined, thou might'st be proudly garlanded?
Look round thee—is not each thing else content,
Having a share, not all the ornament?
The sweet-voiced nightingale is dusky brown,
While golden-plumaged birds no music own.
The ruby long outlives the scented rose;
But then the ruby no such fragrance knows.
From Egypt Moses did the people lead;
To plant in Canaan must be Joshua's deed.
If David laid all rich materials by,
His son first reared the gorgeous fane on high.
It did but once and unto One compete,
All rays of glory round his head should meet.
