Pity him, Beafts! you by no law confin'd
Are barr'd from devious paths by being blind;
Whilst man, through op'ning views of various ways
Confounded, by the aid of knowledge strays;
Too weak to choose, yet choofing ftill in haste,
One moment gives the pleasure and distaste,
Bilk'd by paft minutes, while the prefent cloy,
The flatt'ring future still must give the joy ;
Not happy, but amus'd upon the road,
And (like you) thoughtless of his last abode,,
Whether next fun his being shall reftrain
To endless nothing, happiness, or pain.
Around me, lo! the thinking, thoughtless, crew,
(Bewilder'd each) their diff'rent paths pursue ;.
Of them I ask the way; the first replies,
Thou art a god; and fends me to the skies:
Down on the turf, the next, thou two legg'd beaft,
There fix thy lot, thy blifs and endless rest:
Between these wide extremes, the length is fuch,
I find I know too little, or too much.
"Almighty pow'r by whose most wife command,
"Helplefs, forlorn, uncertain here I ftand!
"Take this faint glimm'ring of thyself away,
"Or break into my foul with perfect day !"
This faid, expanded by the facred text,
The balm, the light, the guide of fouls perplex'd.
Thus the benighted traveller that ftrays
Through doubtful paths, enjoys the morning rays;
The nightly mist, and thick defending dew,
Parting, unfold the fields, and vaulted blue.
"O truth divine! enlighten'd by thy ray,
"I grope and guess no more, but fee my way;
"Thou clear'd'it the fecret of my high defcent,
"And told me what those myftic tokens meant;
"Marks of my birth, which I had worn in vain,
Too hard for worldly fages to explain.
"Zeno's were vain, vain Epicurus' schemes,
“Their systems falfe, delufive were their dreams
"Unfkill'd my two-fold nature to divide,
"One nurs'd my pleafure, and one nurs'd my pride;
"Thofe jarring truths which human art beguile,
"Thy facred page thus bids me reconcile."
Offspring of God, no lefs thy pedigree;
What thou once wert, art now, and till may be
Thy God alone can tell, alone decree;
Faultlefs thon dropp'd'ft from his unerring skill,
With the bare pow'r to fin, fince free of will:
Yet charge not with thy guilt his bounteous love,
For who has pow'r to walk, has pow'r to rove
Who acts by force impell'd, can nought deferve;
And wisdom fhort of infinite may fwerve,
Borne on thy new imp'd, wings, thou took'ft thy flight,
Left thy Creator, and the realms of light;
Difdain'd his gentle precept to fulfil;
And thought to grow a god by ding ill:
Though by foul guilt thy heav'nly form defac'd,
In nature changed, from happy mansions chaf'd,
Thou still retain'ft some sparks of heav'nly fire,
Too faint to mount, yet restless to aspire;
Angel enough to feek thy blifs again,
And brute enough to make thy fearch in vain.
The creatures now withdraw their kindly use,
Some fly thee, fome torment and some seduce;
Repaft ill-fuited to fuch different guests,
For what thy fense defires, thy foul distastes ;
Thy luft, thy curiofity, thy pride,
Curb'd or deferr'd, or baulk'd, or gratify'd,
Rage on, and make thee equally unblefs'd,
In what thou want'ft, and what thou haft poffefs'd,
In vain thou hop'ft for bliss on this poor clod,
Return and feek thy Father and thy God;
Yet think not to regain thy native sky,
Borne on the wings of vain philofophy;
Mysterious paffage! hid from human eyes;
Soaring you'll fink, and finking you will rife:
Let humble thoughts thy wary footsteps guide
Repair by meekness what you loft by pride,
AIL blushing Goddess, beauteous fpring,
Who in thy jocund train dost bring
Love and graces, fmiling hours
Balmy breezes, fragrant flowers
Come with tints of rofeate hue,
Nature's faded charms renew.
Yet why fhould I thy presence hail?
To me no more the breathing gale
Comes fraught with fweets, no more the rofe
With fuch tranfcendent beauty blows,
As when Cadenus bleft the scene,
And shar'd with me those joys ferene.
When, unperceiv'd, the lambent fire
Of friendship kindled new defire;
Still liftening to his tuneful tongue,
The truths which angels might have fung.
Divine impreft their gentle fway,
And fweetly ftole my foul away.
My guide, inftructor, lover, friend,
(Dear names) in one idea blend;
Oh ftill conjoin'd, your incenfe rife,
And waft fweet odours to the skies.
TIMOUR, EMPEROR OF HINDOSTAN.
N the name of him whofe name is the refuge of the fouls of the faithful;
Whose praise is the ornament of eloquent tongues, The most high, the only God, the eternal, the omnifcient;
He who bestoweth ftrength and power on the feeble and the helpless.
The heavens he illumines with multitudes of conftel
And with the human race he decorateth the earth, as with stars.
He who prepar'd the vaulted roof of the revolving
sphere,
Who rais'd up the quadruple fold of the elements.
He who gives fragrance to the bosom of the rose- bud,
And ornamenteth the parent-shrub with wreaths of
He waveth the garment for the brides of the fpring, And teacheth the graceful cypress to erect his head on the border of the lake.
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