Some beaftly want, craving, importunate,
Vile as the grinning maftiff at my gate,
Calls off from heav'nly truth this reas'ning me,
And tells me, I'm a brute as much as he.

If on fublimer wings of love and praise,
My foul above the starry vault I raise,
Lur'd by fome vain conceit, or fhameful luft,
I flag, I drop, and flutter in the duft.
The tow'ring lark thus from her lofty ftrain,
Stoops to an emmet, or a barley grain.
By adverse gufts of jarring inftincts toft,.
I rove to one, now to the other coaft;
To blifs unknown my lofty foul afpires,
My lot unequal to my vaft defites.

As 'mongst the hinds a child of royal birth
Finds his high pedigree by conscious worth ;
So man, amongft his fellow brutes expos'd;
Sees he's a king, but 'tis a king depos'd.
Pity him, beafts! you by no law confin'd,
Are barr'd from devious paths by being blind;
Whilft man, through op'ning views of various ways
Confounded, by the aid of knowledge ftrays;
Too weak to choofe, yet choofing ftill in hafte,
One moment gives the pleasure and distaste;
Bilk'd by paft minutes, while the present cloy,
The flatt'ring future ftill muft give the joy :
Not happy, but amus'd upon the road,
And (like you) thoughtless of his last abode,

Whether next fan his being shall restrain
To endless nothing, happiness or pain.

T

Around me, lo! the thinking thoughtlefs 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 beast,
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.

46

"Almighty Power, by whofe moft wife command, Helpless, forlorn, uncertain here I ftand;

"Take this faint glimmering of thyfelf away,
"Or break into my foul with perfect day!"
This faid, expanded lay the facred text,

The balm, the light, the guide of fouls perplex'd.
Thus the benighted traveller that trays.

Through doubtful paths, enjoys the morning rays;
The nightly mift, and thick defcending dew,
Parting, unfold the fields, and vaulted blue.
"O Truth divine! enlighten'd by thy ray,

66

" I grope and guess no more, but fee my way;
"Thou clear'dft the fecret of my high defcent,
"And told me what thofe 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' fchemes,

Their fyllems falfe, delufive were their dreams :

"Unfkill'd

"Unfkill'd my two-fold nature to divide,
"One nurs'd my pleafure, and one purs'd my pride;
"Thofe jarring truths which human art beguilę,
Thy facred page 'thus bids me reconcile".
Offspring of God, no lefs thy pedigree, od
What thou once wert, art now, and ftill may be,
Thy God alone can tell, alone decree;
Faultless thou drop'dft from his unerring skill,
With the bare power to fin, fince free of will

}

Yet charge not with thy guilt his bounteous love, ~?
For who has power to walk, has power to rave: ng
Who acts by force impell'd, can nought déserve
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 doing ill:

Though by foul guilt thy heavenly form defac'd,
In nature chang'd, from happy manfions chas'd,
Thou ftill retain'ft fome fparks of heav'nly fire,
Too faint to mount, yet reftlefs to aspire;
Angel enough to seek thy blifs again,
And brute enough to make thy fearch in vain.
The creatures now withdraw their kindly ufe,
Some fly thee, fome torment, and fome feduce;
Repaft ill fuited to fuch diff'rent guests,
For what thy fenfe defires, thy foul diftaftes;
N 3

Thy

Thy luft, thy curiofity, thy pride,
Curb'd, or deferr'd, or balk'd, or gratify'd,
Rage on, and make thee equally unbless'd,
In what thou want'ft, and what thou haft poffefs'd.
In vain thou hop'ft for blifs 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 lost by pride.

LONDON:

Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat se? Juv.

HOUGH grief and fondness in my breast rebel,

THO

When injur'd THALES bids the town farewel,
Yet ftill my calmer thoughts his choice commend,
I praise the hermit, but regret the friend;
Who now refolves, from vice and LONDON far,
To breathe in diftant fields a purer air,
And fix'd on Cambria's folitary fhore,
Give to St. David one true Briton more.

JUV. SAT. III.

a Quamvis digreffu veteris confufus amici;
Laudo, tamen, vacuis quod fedem figere Cumis
Deftinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ,