XII. "True dignity is his, whose tranquil mind "Virtue has raised above the things below; "Who, every hope and fear to Heaven resign'd, "Shrinks not, though Fortune aim her deadliest blow." This strain from 'midst the rocks was heard to flow, In solemn sounds. Now beam'd the evening star; And from embattled clouds emerging slow Cynthia came riding on her silver car; And hoary mountain-cliffs shone faintly from afar. XIII. Soon did the solemn voice its theme renew; "Of Levity and Lust, who all their days, "Asham'd of truth and liberty, have woo'd, "And hug'd the chain, that glittering on their gaze "Seems to outshine the pomp of heaven's empyreal blaze. THE MINSTREL; OR, THE PROGRESS OF GENIUS. THE SECOND BOOK. I. Of chance or change O let not man complain, For, from the imperial dome, to where the swain All feel th' assault of fortune's fickle gale; Art, empire, earth itself, to change are doom'd; Earthquakes have raised to heaven the humble vale, And gulphs the mountain's mighty mass entomb'd, And where th' Atlantic rolls wide continents have bloom'd*. *See Plato's Timens. XIV. "Like them, abandon'd to Ambition's sway, "I sought for glory in the paths of guile; "And fawn'd and smiled, to plunder and betray, "Myself betray'd and plunder'd all the while; "So gnaw'd the viper the corroding file. "But now with pangs of keen remorse I rue "Those years of trouble and debasement vile. "Yet why should I this cruel theme pursue? "Fly, fly, detested thoughts, for ever from my view. XV. "The gusts of appetite, the clouds of care, "Henceforth no earthly hope with heaven shall share "I lurk the more secure from fortune's blast, "And with more leisure feed this pious flame, "Whose rapture far transcends the fairest hope of fame. XVI. "The end and the reward of toil is rest. "Be all my prayer for virtue and for peace. "Of wealth and fame, of pomp and power possess'd, "Who ever felt his weight of wo decrease! "Ah! what avails the lore of Rome and Greece, "The lay heaven-prompted, and harmonious string, "The dust of Ophir, or the Tyrian fleece, "All that art, fortune, enterprise, can bring, "If envy, scorn, remorse, or pride the bosom wring! XVII. "Let Vanity adorn the marble tomb "With trophies, rhymes, and 'scutcheons of renown, "In the deep dungeon of some Gothic dome, "Where night and desolation ever frown. "Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down; "Where a green grassy turf is all I crave, "With here and there a violet bestrown, "Fast by a brook, or fountain's murmuring wave; "And many an evening sun shine sweetly on my grave. |