 | The search after happiness |  |
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A SONG BY FLORELLA.
I.
WHILE Beauty and Pleasure are now in their prime,And Folly and Fashion expect our whole time,
Ah! let not those phantoms our wishes engage;
Let us live so in youth, that we blush not in age.
II.
Tho' the vain and the gay may attend us a while,Yet let not their flatt'ry our prudence beguile;
Let us covet those charms that will never decay,
Nor listen to all that deceivers can say.
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III.
“How the tints of the rose and the jess'mines perfume!“The eglantine's fragrance, the lilac's gay bloom,
“Tho' fair and tho' fragrant, unheeded may lie,
“For that neither is sweet when Florella is by.”
IV.
I sigh not for beauty, nor languish for wealth,But grant me, kind Providence, virtue and health;
Then, richer than kings, and as happy as they,
My days shall pass sweetly and swiftly away.
V.
When age shall steal on me, and youth is no more,And the moralist Time shakes his glass at my door,
What charm in lost beauty or wealth should I find?
My treasure, my wealth, is a sweet peace of mind.
VI.
That peace I'll preserve then, as pure as was giv'n,And taste in my bosom an earnest of Heav'n;
For Virtue and Wisdom can warm the cold scene,
And sixty may flourish as gay as sixteen.
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VII.
And when long I the burthen of life shall have borne,And death with his sickle shall cut the ripe corn,
Resign'd to my fate, without murmur or sigh,
I'll bless the kind summons, and lie down and die,
EUPHELIA.
Thus sweetly pass the hours of rural ease!
Here life is bliss, and pleasures truly please!
PASTORELLA.
With joy we view the dangers we have past,
Assur'd we've found Felicity at last.
FLORELLA.
Expect not perfect Happiness below,
Nor heav'nly plants on earth's low soil to grow.
Esteem none happy by their outward air;
All have their portion of allotted care.
Tho' Prudence wears the semblance of content
When the full heart with agony is rent;
Secludes its anguish from the public sight,
And feeds on sorrow with a sad delight;
Shuns ev'ry eye to cherish darling grief,
This fond indulgence its supreme relief.
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Are trials suffer'd, and afflictions sent;
To stem impetuous passion's furious tide,
To curb the insolence of prosp'rous pride,
To wean from earth, and bid our wishes soar
To that blest clime where pain shall be no more;
Where weary'd virtue shall for refuge fly,
And ev'ry tear be wip'd from ev'ry eye.
CLEORA.
List'ning to you, my heart can never cease
To rev'rence virtue, and to sigh for peace.
FLORELLA.
Know, e'en Urania, that accomplish'd Fair,
Whose goodness makes her Heav'n's peculiar care,
Full oft, ere she her present peace attain'd,
The bitter cup of woe has deeply drain'd:
In affluence born, and bred in splendid state,
Has felt the cruelest extreme of fate;
Yet meek, resign'd, and patient in distress,
She knew, the hand that wounds has pow'r to bless:
Instead of murm'ring at his sacred will,
Grateful she bow'd for what was left her still.
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Tho' free from sin, was not exempt from care;
Taught by his precepts, by his practice taught,
Her will submitted, and resign'd her thought,
Through faith, she look'd beyond these earthly scenes
To where nor pain nor sorrow intervenes.
Enter Urania, Sylvia, Eliza.
URANIA.
Since, gentle Nymphs, my friendship to obtain,
You've sought with eager step this peaceful plain,
My honest counsel with attention hear,
Tho' plain, well meant, imperfect, yet sincere;
What from maturer years alone I've known,
What time has taught me, and experience shewn;
No polish'd phrase my artless speech will grace,
But unaffected candour fill its place:
My lips shall flatt'ry's smooth deceit refuse;
And truth be all the eloquence I'll use.
Know then, that life's chief happiness and woe,
From good or evil education flow;
And hence our future dispositions rise;
The vice we practise, or the good we prize.
When pliant Nature any form receives
That precept teaches, or example gives,
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For first impressions seldom are effac'd.
If Ignorance her iron sway maintain,
If Prejudice preside, or Passion reign,
The erring principle is rooted fast,
And fix'd the temper that thro' life may last.
PASTORELLA.
With heartfelt penitence we now deplore
Those squander'd hours, that time can ne'er restore.
URANIA.
Euphelia sighs for flatt'ry, dress, and show:
Too common sources these of female woe!
In Beauty's sphere pre-eminence to find,
She slights the culture of th'immortal Mind:
I would not rail at Beauty's charming pow'r,
I would but have her aim at something more;
The fairest symmetry of form or face,
From intellect receives its highest grace;
The brightest eyes ne'er dart such piercing fires
As when a soul irradiates and inspires.
Beauty with reason needs not quite dispense;
And coral lips may sure speak common sense.
Beauty makes Virtue lovelier still appear;
Virtue makes Beauty more divinely fair!
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And those your beauties gain, your virtues bind.
Yet would Ambition's fire your bosom fill,
Its flame repress not—be ambitious still;
Let nobler views your best attention claim,
The object chang'd, the passion be the same.
Indulge the true ambition to excel
In that best art,—the art of living well.
All other faults may take a higher aim,
But hopeless Envy must be still the same.
Anger and pride we may convert to good,
But Envy must subdue, or be subdu'd.
This fatal gangrene to our moral life,
Rejects all palliatives, and asks the knife;
Excision spar'd, it taints the vital part,
And spreads its deadly venom to the heart.
EUPHELIA.
Unhappy those to bliss who seek the way,
In pow'r superior, or in splendor gay!
Inform'd by thee, no more vain man shall find
The charm of flatt'ry taint Euphelia's mind:
By thee instructed, still my views shall rise,
Nor stop at any mark beneath the skies.
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In fair Laurinda's uninstructed mind,
The want of culture, not of sense, we find;
Whene'er you sought the good, or shunn'd the ill,
'Twas more from temper than from principle:
Your random life to no just rules reduc'd,
'Twas chance the virtue or the vice produc'd.
The casual goodness Impulse has to boast,
Like morning dews, or transient show'rs, is lost;
While Heav'n-taught Virtue pours her constant tide,
Like streams by living fountains still supply'd.
The want of culture, not of sense, we find;
Whene'er you sought the good, or shunn'd the ill,
'Twas more from temper than from principle:
Your random life to no just rules reduc'd,
'Twas chance the virtue or the vice produc'd.
The casual goodness Impulse has to boast,
Like morning dews, or transient show'rs, is lost;
While Heav'n-taught Virtue pours her constant tide,
Like streams by living fountains still supply'd.
Be Wisdom still, tho' late, your earnest care,
Nor waste the precious hours in vain despair:
Associate with the good, attend the sage,
And meekly listen to experienc'd age.
What, if acquirements you have fail'd to gain,
Such as the wise may want, the bad attain,
Yet still Religion's sacred treasures lie
Inviting, open, plain to ev'ry eye;
For ev'ry age, for ev'ry genius fit,
Nor limited to science nor to wit;
To elevated talents not confin'd;
But all may learn the truths for all design'd:
She calls, solicits, courts you to be blest,
And points to mansions of eternal rest.
Nor waste the precious hours in vain despair:
Associate with the good, attend the sage,
And meekly listen to experienc'd age.
What, if acquirements you have fail'd to gain,
Such as the wise may want, the bad attain,
Yet still Religion's sacred treasures lie
Inviting, open, plain to ev'ry eye;
For ev'ry age, for ev'ry genius fit,
Nor limited to science nor to wit;
To elevated talents not confin'd;
But all may learn the truths for all design'd:
She calls, solicits, courts you to be blest,
And points to mansions of eternal rest.
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And when, advanc'd in years, matur'd in sense,
Think not with farther care you may dispense;
'Tis fatal to the int'rests of the soul
To stop the race before we've reach'd the goal;
For nought our higher progress can preclude
So much as thinking we're already good.
The human heart ne'er knows a state of rest:
Bad leads to worse, and better tends to best.
We either gain or lose, we sink or rise,
Nor rests our struggling Nature till she dies.
Then place the standard of Perfection high;
Pursue and grasp it, e'en beyond the sky.
Think not with farther care you may dispense;
'Tis fatal to the int'rests of the soul
To stop the race before we've reach'd the goal;
For nought our higher progress can preclude
So much as thinking we're already good.
The human heart ne'er knows a state of rest:
Bad leads to worse, and better tends to best.
We either gain or lose, we sink or rise,
Nor rests our struggling Nature till she dies.
Then place the standard of Perfection high;
Pursue and grasp it, e'en beyond the sky.
LAURINDA.
O that important Time could back return
Those mis-spent hours, whose loss I deeply mourn!
Accept, just Heav'n, my penitence sincere,
My heartfelt anguish, and my fervent pray'r!
URANIA.
I pity Pastorella's hapless fate,
By nature gentle, gen'rous, mild, yet great:
One false propension all her pow'rs confin'd,
And chain'd her finer faculties of mind;
Yet ev'ry virtue might have flourish'd there
With early culture, and maternal care.
By nature gentle, gen'rous, mild, yet great:
One false propension all her pow'rs confin'd,
And chain'd her finer faculties of mind;
Yet ev'ry virtue might have flourish'd there
With early culture, and maternal care.
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If good, we plant not; Vice will fill the place,
And rankest weeds the richest soils deface.
Learn, how ungovern'd thoughts the mind pervert,
And to disease all nourishment convert.
Ah! happy she, whose wisdom learns to find
A healthful fancy, and a well train'd mind!
A sick man's wildest dreams less wild are found
Than the day-visions of a mind unsound.
Disorder'd phantasies, indulg'd too much,
Like harpies, always taint whate'er they touch.
Fly soothing Solitude! fly vain Desire!
Fly such soft verse as fans the dang'rous fire!
Seek action; 'tis the scene which Virtue loves:
The vig'rous sun not only shines, but moves.
From sickly thoughts with quick abhorrence start,
And rule the fancy if you'd rule the heart:
Those very passions that our peace invade,
If rightly pointed, blessings may be made:
Then rise, my friend, above terrestrial aims,
Direct the ardor which your breast inflames
To that pure region of eternal joys,
Where fear disturbs not, nor possession cloys;
Beyond what Fancy forms of rosy bow'rs,
Or blooming chaplets of unfading flow'rs;
Fairer than e'er imagination drew,
Or poet's warmest visions ever knew.
Press eager onward to those blissful plains
Where one unbounded Spring for ever reigns
And rankest weeds the richest soils deface.
Learn, how ungovern'd thoughts the mind pervert,
And to disease all nourishment convert.
Ah! happy she, whose wisdom learns to find
A healthful fancy, and a well train'd mind!
A sick man's wildest dreams less wild are found
Than the day-visions of a mind unsound.
Disorder'd phantasies, indulg'd too much,
Like harpies, always taint whate'er they touch.
Fly soothing Solitude! fly vain Desire!
Fly such soft verse as fans the dang'rous fire!
Seek action; 'tis the scene which Virtue loves:
The vig'rous sun not only shines, but moves.
From sickly thoughts with quick abhorrence start,
And rule the fancy if you'd rule the heart:
Those very passions that our peace invade,
If rightly pointed, blessings may be made:
Then rise, my friend, above terrestrial aims,
Direct the ardor which your breast inflames
To that pure region of eternal joys,
Where fear disturbs not, nor possession cloys;
Beyond what Fancy forms of rosy bow'rs,
Or blooming chaplets of unfading flow'rs;
Fairer than e'er imagination drew,
Or poet's warmest visions ever knew.
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Where one unbounded Spring for ever reigns
PASTORELLA.
I mourn the errors of my thoughtless youth,
And long, with thee, to tread the paths of truth.
URANIA.
Learning is all the bright Cleora's aim;
She seeks the loftiest pinnacle of fame;
On interdicted ground presumes to stand,
And grasps at Science with a vent'rous hand:
The privilege of Man she dares invade,
And tears the chaplet from his laurel'd head.
Why found her merit on a foreign claim?
Why lose a substance to acquire a name?
Let the proud sex possess their vaunted pow'rs;
Be other triumphs, other glories, ours!
The gentler charms which wait on female life,
Which grace the Daughter and adorn the Wife,
Be these our boast; yet these may well admit
Of various knowledge, and of blameless wit:
Of sense, resulting from a nurtur'd mind,
Of polish'd converse, and of taste refin'd;
Of that quick intuition of the best,
Which feels the graceful, and rejects the rest:
Which finds the right by shorter ways than rules:
An art which Nature teaches—not the schools.
Thus conq'ring Sevigne the heart obtains,
While Dacier only admiration gains.
She seeks the loftiest pinnacle of fame;
On interdicted ground presumes to stand,
And grasps at Science with a vent'rous hand:
The privilege of Man she dares invade,
And tears the chaplet from his laurel'd head.
Why found her merit on a foreign claim?
Why lose a substance to acquire a name?
Let the proud sex possess their vaunted pow'rs;
Be other triumphs, other glories, ours!
The gentler charms which wait on female life,
Which grace the Daughter and adorn the Wife,
Be these our boast; yet these may well admit
Of various knowledge, and of blameless wit:
Of sense, resulting from a nurtur'd mind,
Of polish'd converse, and of taste refin'd;
Of that quick intuition of the best,
Which feels the graceful, and rejects the rest:
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An art which Nature teaches—not the schools.
Thus conq'ring Sevigne the heart obtains,
While Dacier only admiration gains.
Know, fair Aspirer, could you ever hope
To speak like Stonehouse, or to write like Pope,
To join like Ferney's, or like Hagley's sage,
Th'Historic, Ethic, and Poetic page,
With all the pow'rs of wit and judgment fraught,
The flow of style and the sublime of thought;
Yet, if the milder graces of the mind,
Graces peculiar to the sex design'd,
Good-nature, patience, sweetness void of art;
If these embellish'd not your virgin heart,
You might be dazzling, but not truly bright;
A pompous glare, but not an useful light;
A meteor, not a star, you would appear;
For Woman shines but in her proper sphere.
To speak like Stonehouse, or to write like Pope,
To join like Ferney's, or like Hagley's sage,
Th'Historic, Ethic, and Poetic page,
With all the pow'rs of wit and judgment fraught,
The flow of style and the sublime of thought;
Yet, if the milder graces of the mind,
Graces peculiar to the sex design'd,
Good-nature, patience, sweetness void of art;
If these embellish'd not your virgin heart,
You might be dazzling, but not truly bright;
A pompous glare, but not an useful light;
A meteor, not a star, you would appear;
For Woman shines but in her proper sphere.
Accomplishments by Nature were design'd
Less to adorn than to amend the mind:
Each should contribute to this gen'ral end,
And all to virtue, as their centre, tend.
Th'acquirements, which our best esteem invite,
Shou'd not project, but soften, mix, unite:
In glaring light not strongly be display'd,
But sweetly lost, and melted into shade.
Less to adorn than to amend the mind:
Each should contribute to this gen'ral end,
And all to virtue, as their centre, tend.
Th'acquirements, which our best esteem invite,
Shou'd not project, but soften, mix, unite:
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But sweetly lost, and melted into shade.
CLEORA.
Confus'd with shame, to thy reproofs I bend,
Thou best adviser, and thou truest friend!
From thee I'll learn to judge and act aright,
Humility with Knowledge to unite:
The finish'd character must both combine
The perfect woman must in either shine.
URANIA.
Florella shines adorn'd with every grace,
Her heart all virtue, as all charms her face:
Above the wretched, and below the great,
Kind Heav'n has fix'd her in a middle state;
From rich and poor, at equal distance thrown,
The smile invidious, and th'insulting frown;
The dæmon Fashion never warp'd her soul,
Her passions move at Reason's wise controul;
Her eyes the movements of her heart declare,
For what she dares to be, she dares appear;
Unlectur'd in Dissimulation's school,
To smile by precept, and to blush by rule:
Her thoughts ingenuous, ever open lie,
Nor shrink from close Inspection's keenest eye;
No dark disguise about her heart is thrown,
'Tis Virtue's int'rest fully to be known;
Her nat'ral sweetness ev'ry heart obtains,
What Art and Affectation miss, she gains.
Her heart all virtue, as all charms her face:
Above the wretched, and below the great,
Kind Heav'n has fix'd her in a middle state;
From rich and poor, at equal distance thrown,
The smile invidious, and th'insulting frown;
The dæmon Fashion never warp'd her soul,
Her passions move at Reason's wise controul;
Her eyes the movements of her heart declare,
For what she dares to be, she dares appear;
Unlectur'd in Dissimulation's school,
To smile by precept, and to blush by rule:
Her thoughts ingenuous, ever open lie,
Nor shrink from close Inspection's keenest eye;
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'Tis Virtue's int'rest fully to be known;
Her nat'ral sweetness ev'ry heart obtains,
What Art and Affectation miss, she gains.
She smooths the path of my declining years,
Augments my comforts, and divides my cares.
Augments my comforts, and divides my cares.
PASTORELLA.
O sacred Friendship! O exalted state!
The choicest bounty of indulgent fate!
URANIA.
Would you, ye fair, the bright example give,
Fir'd with ambition, men like you would live;
Would chuse for merit, and esteem for sense,
And taste the solid transports these dispense;
Would rouse at Virtue's, and at Honour's voice,
And love from reason, whom they lik'd from choice:
Then marriage would with peace go hand in hand,
And Concord's temple close to Hymen's stand.
Nor think that vice alone obstructs our bliss,
On Temper's basis stands the throne of Peace.
Fir'd with ambition, men like you would live;
Would chuse for merit, and esteem for sense,
And taste the solid transports these dispense;
Would rouse at Virtue's, and at Honour's voice,
And love from reason, whom they lik'd from choice:
Then marriage would with peace go hand in hand,
And Concord's temple close to Hymen's stand.
Nor think that vice alone obstructs our bliss,
On Temper's basis stands the throne of Peace.
Let Woman then her real good discern,
And her true inter'sts of Urania learn;
Her lowest name, the tyrant of an hour,
And her best empire negligence of pow'r:
By yielding she obtains the noblest sway,
And reigns securely when she seems t'obey.
And her true inter'sts of Urania learn;
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And her best empire negligence of pow'r:
By yielding she obtains the noblest sway,
And reigns securely when she seems t'obey.
EUPHELIA.
With double grace she pleads Discretion's cause,
Who from her life her virtuous lesson draws.
URANIA.
As some fair violet, loveliest of the glade,
Sheds its mild fragrance on the lonely shade,
Withdraws its modest head from public sight,
Nor courts the Sun, nor seeks the glare of light;
Should some rude hand profanely dare intrude,
And bear its beauties from its native wood,
Expos'd abroad its languid colours fly,
Its form decays, and all its odours die;
So Woman, born to dignify retreat,
Unknown to flourish, and unseen be great,
To give domestic life its sweetest charm,
With softness polish, and with virtue warm,
Fearful of Fame, unwilling to be known,
Should seek but Heav'n's applauses, and her own;
Should dread no blame but that which crimes impart,
The censures of a self-condemning heart.
Sheds its mild fragrance on the lonely shade,
Withdraws its modest head from public sight,
Nor courts the Sun, nor seeks the glare of light;
Should some rude hand profanely dare intrude,
And bear its beauties from its native wood,
Expos'd abroad its languid colours fly,
Its form decays, and all its odours die;
So Woman, born to dignify retreat,
Unknown to flourish, and unseen be great,
To give domestic life its sweetest charm,
With softness polish, and with virtue warm,
Fearful of Fame, unwilling to be known,
Should seek but Heav'n's applauses, and her own;
Should dread no blame but that which crimes impart,
The censures of a self-condemning heart.
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Heav'n's minist'ring Angel! she should seek the cell
Where modest want and silent anguish dwell;
Raise the weak head, sustain the feeble knees,
Cheer the cold heart, and chace the dire disease.
The splendid deeds which only seek a name,
Are paid their just reward in present fame;
But know, the awful all-disclosing day,
The long arrear of secret worth shall pay;
Applauding Saints shall hear with fond regard,
And He, who witness'd here, shall there reward.
Where modest want and silent anguish dwell;
Raise the weak head, sustain the feeble knees,
Cheer the cold heart, and chace the dire disease.
The splendid deeds which only seek a name,
Are paid their just reward in present fame;
But know, the awful all-disclosing day,
The long arrear of secret worth shall pay;
Applauding Saints shall hear with fond regard,
And He, who witness'd here, shall there reward.
CLEORA.
Let's join to bless that Pow'r who brought us here,
Adore his goodness, and his will revere;
Assur'd, that Peace exists but in the mind,
And Piety alone that Peace can find.
URANIA.
In its true light this transient Life regard:
This is a state of trial, not reward.
Tho' rough the passage, peaceful is the port,
The bliss is perfect, the probation short.
Of human wit beware the fatal pride:
An useful follower, but a dang'rous guide:
On holy Faith's aspiring pinions rise;
Assert your birth-right, and assume the skies.
This is a state of trial, not reward.
Tho' rough the passage, peaceful is the port,
The bliss is perfect, the probation short.
Of human wit beware the fatal pride:
An useful follower, but a dang'rous guide:
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Assert your birth-right, and assume the skies.
FOUNTAIN OF BEING! teach us to devote
To Thee each purpose, action, word, and thought!
Thy grace our hope, thy love our only boast,
Be all distinctions in the Christian lost!
Be this in ev'ry state our wish alone,
Almighty, Wise, and Good, Thy will be done!
To Thee each purpose, action, word, and thought!
Thy grace our hope, thy love our only boast,
Be all distinctions in the Christian lost!
Be this in ev'ry state our wish alone,
Almighty, Wise, and Good, Thy will be done!
| The search after happiness | |