Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring;
And Sedley curs’d the form that pleas'd a king.
Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom pleasure keeps too busy to be wise,
Whom joys with soft varieties invite,
By day the frolic, and the dance by night,
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latest fashion of the heart,
What care, what rules your heedless charms shall save,
Each nymph your rival, and each yonth your slave?
Against your fame with fondness hate combines,
The rival batters, and the lover mines.
With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls;
Tir'd with contempt, she quits the slippery reign,
And pride and prudence take her seat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,
The harmless freedom and the private friend.
The guardians yield, by force superior ply'd ;
To int’rest, prudence; and to flattery, pride.
Here beauty falls betray'd, despis’d, distress’d,
And hissing infamy proclaims the rest.
Where then shall hope and fear their objects find?
Must dull suspense corrupt the stagnant mind ?
Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?
Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,
No cries invoke the mercies of the skies?
Inquirer, cease, petitions yet remain,
Which heaven may hear, nor deem religion vain.
Still raise for good the supplicating voice,
But leave to Heaven the measure and the choice.
Safe in his pow'r, whose eyes discern afar
The secret ambush of a specious pray’r.
Inplore his aid, in his decisions rest,
Secure whate'er he gives, he gives the best.
Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies aspires,
Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient passions, and a will resign'd;
For love which scarce collective man can fill,
For patience, sov'reign, o'er transmuted ill;
For faith, that, panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind nature's signal of retreat;
These goods for man the laws of heaven ordain,
These goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to gain;
With these celestial wisdom calms the mind,
And makes the happiness she does not find.
There's a gladness in the voice of youth, and its song
'mid summer bowers, When the sun is on its golden car, and the dew upon
the flowers ; It comes like our own voices back from a past and
happy scene, So fair that nothing after is so fair as what has been.
There's a gladness in the look of youth, and its smile
of friendly glee, When it meets with gladness like its own, as simple
and as free; It warms our bosoms like the thought of those that with
us dwelt, Ere friendship to another shrine than friendly hearts
had knelt.
There's a gladness in the step of youth, and its bearing
frank and high, That the proudest despot of the earth would tremble to
defy; We follow it as if it led to the very mountain's side, Where we chased the bold stag in its speed, and the
eagle in its pride.
There's a gladness in the sleep of youth, and its calm
unbroken rest, With the dew of blessin on its head from the fountain
in its breast; There's nothing in our after years of weariness like this, Till when the heart is young again in its sabbath year
of bliss.
Oh! we might weep to feel, though soon our earthly
years be told, The spirit of our hearts has filed before our hearts are
cold; To feel the loos’ning of the limbs, and howing of the
head, Before the narrow couch we need to slumber on le
spread.
But there's a better strength within than strength of
heart or limb, A burning and a shining light, whose lustre grows not
dim; And though, while creatures still of earth, our outward
forms decay, The spirit of our inner man grows stronger day by day.
Taen came from Heaven a mighty angel down ;-
The sky was kindled, and the dusky earth
Grew bright as at the rising of the sun.
And with a strong voice mightily he cried
• Great Babylon is fallen-is fallen-is fallen!
And is the hold of unclean spirits become ;-
The habitation of the things of hell !
All nations of her wickedness have drunk,
And been defiled.—Come, my people, forth
From out of her, that ye share not of her sins,
And that ye burn not with her plagues. For, lo!
Her wickedness hath reached unto Heaven;-
God hath remember'd her iniquities.
Therefore, in one day shall her plagues be sent;
Famine-and death—and mourning :--and with fires
Shall she be burnt out utterly. And the kings
That have partaken of her wickedness,
Standing far off, shall look upon her smoke,
Bewailiny, and lamenting her,-and cry,
“ Great Babylon! alas! great Babylon !
Alas! that mighty city, Babylon !
For in one hour thy judgment is come down !”
"The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn,-
Standing far off for terror of her torment,
And cry—“ Alas! alas! great Babylon !
Thou mighty city, in fine linen clothed,
Purple, and scarlet ;-deck'd with gold and pearls,
And precious stones ! for in one hour thy wealth
Is come to nought! what city was like thee,
Thou mighty city!” Then upon their heads
Shall they cast dust, and weep, and wail, and cry
“ Alas, for that great city! whereby all
That traded on the sea in ships, grew rich,
By reason of her costliness !--Alas !
For in one hour is she made desolate!")
Then, wrathfully, a mighty angel grasped
A rock-and lifted it-and to the sea
Cast it far out.-The waters dasb'd the clouds
And the deep sea was bared.-And, as he threw,
Thus, with a terrible voice, cried he, and said, -
• Even so with violence shall great Babylon
Be to the earth thrown down, and found no more!
The sound of harpers, and of trumpeters,
Of pipers, and of singers, shall no more
Be heard in thee at all. The craftsman's hand
Shall toil in thee no more :the chariot.wheel,
The snorting steed, shall shake thy streets no more.-
Thy walls no more shall echo to the laugh
Of drunken revellers :- no more, no more,
Thy kings shall come from conquest of thy foes :
The voice of bridegrooms and of brides shall be
Heard never more at all within thy gates.
*In thee th' Arabian shall not pitch his tent,
Nor shall the shepherd make in thee his fold;-
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie in thee;-
Thy houses shall be full of doleful things;
Owls in thy temples,-serpents in thy halls,
And dragons in thy pleasant palaces.
For by thy sorceries was the earth deceived,
And in thee was the blood of prophets found,
Of saints,-and all that on the earth were slain!'
* This line, and the five that follow it, are from
the 13th chapter of Isaiah,
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