The praise bestow'd was just and wise; He sprang impetuous forth, Secure of conquest, where the prize Attends superior worth. So the best courser on the plain And does but at the goal obtain What all had deem'd his own. 20 ODE TO PEACE. COME, peace of mind, delightful guest! Return and make thy downy nest Once more in this sad heart: Nor riches I nor pow'r pursue, We therefore need not part. Where wilt thou dwell, if not with me, From av'rice and ambition free, And pleasure's fatal wiles? For whom, alas! dost thou prepare The sweets, that I was wont to share, The banquet of thy smiles? 10 The Heav'n, that thou alone canst make? And wilt thou quit the stream That murmurs through the dewy mead, The grove and the sequester'd shed, To be a guest with them? For thee I panted, thee I priz'd, For thee I gladly sacrific'd Whate'er I lov'd before; And shall I see thee start away, And helpless, hopeless, hear thee say- Farewell! we meet no more? 20 HUMAN FRAILTY. WEAK and irresolute is man; The purpose of to day, Woven with pains into his plan, To morrow rends away. The bow well bent, and smart the spring, Vice seems already slain; But Passion rudely snaps the string, And it revives again. 'Tis here the folly of the wise Through all his art we view; And, while his tongue the charge denies, His conscience owns it true. Bound on a voyage of awful length A stranger to superior strength, Man vainly trusts his own. But oars alone can ne'er prevail, To reach the distant coast; The breath of Heav'n must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost. 20 THE MODERN PATRIOT. REBELLION is my theme all day; (As who knows but perhaps it may?) A little nearer home. Yon roaring boys, who rave and fight I always held them in the right, When lawless mobs insult the court, That man shall be my toast, Who bravely breaks the most. 10 |