 | English melodies |  |
54
NATURE AND FASHION.
'Tis Nature makes the gentleman,
'Tis Nature moulds the heart and mind,
Endows, far more than Fashion can,
With all its boast of modes refin'd:
Your Rank is but a human gift,
And all experience proves it so;
No earthly titles yet could lift
The mean, the worthless, and the low.
Then be ye bold when fools look cold,
For right and reason both commend it,
And surely they who make the gold
Are good as they who waste or spend it.
'Tis Nature moulds the heart and mind,
Endows, far more than Fashion can,
With all its boast of modes refin'd:
Your Rank is but a human gift,
And all experience proves it so;
No earthly titles yet could lift
The mean, the worthless, and the low.
Then be ye bold when fools look cold,
For right and reason both commend it,
And surely they who make the gold
Are good as they who waste or spend it.
'Tis Nature grants the wisdom—power—
The innate tenderness of thought;
A lofty mind is Nature's dower,
A boon no fortune ever bought.
Where Nature's hand hath been before,
There's little need of Fashion's touch;
Can Rank for Manhood's grace do more?
It often fails to do as much:
Then be ye bold when fools look cold,
For right and reason both commend it;
And surely they who make the gold
Are good as they who waste or spend it.
The innate tenderness of thought;
A lofty mind is Nature's dower,
A boon no fortune ever bought.
55
There's little need of Fashion's touch;
Can Rank for Manhood's grace do more?
It often fails to do as much:
Then be ye bold when fools look cold,
For right and reason both commend it;
And surely they who make the gold
Are good as they who waste or spend it.
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