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Remote from cities liv'd a swain,
Unvex'd with all the cares of gain;
His head was silver'd o'er with age,
And long experience made him sage ;
In summer's heat, and winter's cold,
He fed his flock, and penn'd the fold:
His hours in cheerful labour flew,
Nor envy nor ambition knew :
His wisdom and his honest fame
Thro' all the country rais'd his name:

A deep philosopher (whose rules
Of moral life were drawn from schools)
The Shepherd's homely cottage sought,
And thus explor'd his reach of thought.

Whence is thy learning ? hath thy toil
O'er books consum'd the midnight oil?

stancy and nuptial love
i, my duty from the dove;
hen, who from the chilly air,

i pious wing protects her care, perdry fowl that flies at large sructs me in a parents charge. sium Nature, too, I take my rule, Babichil contempt and ridicule.

er, with important air, conversation overbear.

grave and formal pass for wise 'ien men the solemn owl despise ? y tongue within my lips I rein,

who talks much must talk in vain.

from the wordy torrent fly: usid listens to the chatt'ring pie ? i would I, with felonious slight,

stealth invade my neighbour's right. spacious animals we hate:

Es, hawks, and wolves, deserve their fate. jo not we just abhorrence find

winst the toad and serpent kind ? But Envy, Calumny, and Spite, bar stronger venom in their bite. Thus ev'ry object of creation Can furnish hints to contemplation; And from the most minute and mean A virtuous mind can morals glean.

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Hast thou old Greece and Rome survey'd,
And the vast sense of Plato weigh'd ?
Hath Socrates thy soul refin'd,
And hast thou fathom’d Tully's mind ?
Or, like the wise Ulysses, thrown,
By various fates, on realms unknown,
Hast thou thro' many cities stray’d,
Their customs, laws, and manners weigh'd ?

The Shepherd modestly reply'd,
I ne'er the paths of learning try'd:
Nor have I roam’d in foreign parts
To read mankind, their laws and arts;
For man is practis'd in disguise,
He cheats the most discerning eyes;
Who by that search shall wiser grow,
When we ourselves can never know?
The little knowledge I have gain'd
Was all from simple Nature drain'd;
Hence my life's maxims took their rise,
Hence grew my settled hate to vice.

The daily labours of the bee
Awake my soul to industry:
Who can observe the careful ant,
And not provide for future want ?
My dog (the trustiest of his kind)
With gratitude inflames my mind :
I mark his true, his faithful way,
And in my service copy Tray.

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In constancy and nuptial love
I learn my duty from the dove;
The hen, who from the chilly air,
With pious wing protects her care,
And ev'ry fowl that flies at large
Instructs me in a parent's charge.

From Nature, too, I take my rule,
To shun contempt and ridicule.
I never, with important air,
In conversation overbear.
Can grave and formal pass for wise
When men the solemn owl despise ?
My tongue within my lips I rein,
For who talks much must talk in vain.
We from the wordy torrent fly:
Who listens to the chatt'ring pie ?
Nor would I, with felonious slight,
By stealth invade my neighbour's right.
Rapacious animals we hate:
Kites, hawks, and wolves, deserve their fate.
Do not we just abhorrence find
Against the toad and serpent kind ?
But Envy, Calumny, and Spite,
Bear stronger venom in their bite.
Thus ev'ry object of creation
Can furnish hints to contemplation;
And from the most minute and mean
A virtuous mind can morals glean.

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