Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

'But hark! the' affrighted crowd's tumultuous

cries

Roll through the streets, and thunder to the skies: Raised from some pleasing dream of wealth and power,

Some pompous palace, or some blissful bower,
Aghast you start, and scarce with aching sight
Sustain the' approaching fire's tremendous light;
Swift from pursuing horrors take your way,
And leave little all to flames a prey;

your

Then through the world a wretched vagrant roam,
For where can starving Merit find a home?
In vain your mournful narrative disclose,
While all neglect, and most insult your woes.
'Should Heaven's just bolts Orgilio's wealth
confound,

And spread his flaming palace on the ground,
Swift o'er the land the dismal rumour flies,
And public mournings pacify the skies;
The laureate tribe in servile verse relate,
How Virtue wars with persecuting Fate;
With well feign'd gratitude the pension'd band
Refund the plunder of the beggar'd land.
See! while he builds, the gaudy vassals come,
And crowd with sudden wealth the rising dome;
The price of boroughs and of souls restore,
And raise his treasures higher than before:
Now bless'd with all the baubles of the great,
The polish'd marble, and the shining plate,
Orgilio sees the golden pile aspire,

And hopes from angry Heaven another fire.

• Couldst thou resign the park and play con

tent,

For the fair banks of Severn or of Trent;

P

There mightst thou find some elegant retreat,
Some hireling senator's deserted seat,

And stretch thy prospects o'er the smiling land,
For less than rent the dungeons of the Strand;
There prune thy walks, support thy drooping
flowers,

Direct thy rivulets, and twine thy bowers;
And, while thy beds a cheap repast afford,
Despise the dainties of a venal lord:

There every bush with nature's music rings,
There every breeze bears health upon its wings;
On all thy hours security shall smile,

And bless thine evening walk and morning toil.

[ocr errors]

Prepare for death, if here at night you roam; And sign your will, before you sup from home. Some fiery fop, with new commission vain, Who sleeps on brambles till he kills his man; Some frolic drunkard, reeling from a feast, Provokes a broil, and stabs you for a jest. 'Yet e'en these heroes, mischievously gay, Lords of the street, and terrors of the Flush'd as they are with folly, youth, and wine, Their prudent insults to the poor confine; Afar they mark the flambeau's bright approach, And shun the shining train and golden coach.

way;

In vain, these dangers past, your doors you And hope the balmy blessings of repose: [close, Cruel with guilt, and daring with despair, The midnight murderer bursts the faithless bar; Invades the sacred hour of silent rest, And plants, unseen, a dagger in your breast. Scarce can our fields, such crowds at Tyburn die,

With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply.

Propose your schemes, ye senatorian band, Whose ways and means' support the sinking land; Lest ropes be wanting in the tempting spring, To rig another convoy for the king3.

A single jail, in Alfred's golden reign, Could half the nation's criminals contain; Fair Justice then, without constraint adored, Held high the steady scale,but sheath'd the sword; No spies were paid, no special juries known; Bless'd age! but ah! how different from our own!

Much could I add,-but see the boat at hand, The tide retiring, calls me from the land: Farewell!--When youth, and health, and fortune spent,

Thou fliest for refuge to the wilds of Kent;
And, tired like me with follies and with crimes,
In angry numbers warn'st succeeding times;
Then shall thy friend, nor thou refuse his aid,
Still foe to vice, forsake his Cambrian shade;
In virtue's cause once more exert his rage,
Thy satire point, and animate thy page.'

THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES.
In Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal.
LET observation with extensive view
Survey mankind, from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife,
And watch the busy scenes of crowded life;

7 A technical term in parliament for raising money.

The nation was then discontented at the repeated visits made by George the Second to Hanover.

Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate
O'erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wavering man,betray'd by venturous pride,
To tread the dreary paths without a guide;
As treacherous phantoms in the mist delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good.
How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice,
Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant
voice;

How nations sink, by darling schemes oppress'd,
When vengeance listens to the fool's request;
Fate wings with every wish the' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature, and each grace of art;
With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,
With fatal sweetness elocution flows;
Impeachment stops the speaker's powerful breath,
And restless fire precipitates on death.

But, scarce observed, the knowing and the bold
Fall in the general massacre of gold;

Wide-wasting pest! that rages unconfined,
And crowds with crimes the records of mankind:
For gold his sword the hireling ruffian draws,
For gold the hireling judge distorts the laws;
Wealth heap'd on wealth, nor truth nor safety
The dangers gather as the treasures rise. [buys,
Let history tell where rival kings command,
And dubious title shakes the madded land,
When statutes glean the refuse of the sword,
How much more safe the vassal than the lord;
Low skulks the hind beneath the rage of power,
And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tower,
Untouch'd his cottage, and his slumbers sound,
Though confiscation's vultures hover round.
The needy traveller, serene and gay,

Walks the wild heath, and sings his toil away.

[ocr errors]
[graphic][subsumed][merged small]
« ElőzőTovább »