But equal to our being's aim,
The space to virtue giv'n;
And ev'ry minute, well improv'd,
Secures an age in Heav'n.

SECTION V.

Verses accompanying a nosegay

1. THOU canst not steal the rose's bloom,
To decorate thy face;
But the sweet, blush of modesty,
Will lend an equal grace.

2. These violets scent the distant gale; (They grew in lowly bed;)

So real worth new merit gains,
By diffidence o'erspread.

8. Nor wilt thou e'er that lily's white,
In thy complexion find;
Yet innocence may shine as fair,
Within thy spotless mind.

4. Now, in the op'ning spring of life,
Let ev'ry flow'ret bloom:

The budding virtues in thy breast
Shall yield the best perfume.

5. This nosegay, in thy bosom plac❜d,
A moral may convey:

For soon its brightest tints shall fade,
And all its sweets decay.

6. So short-liv'd are the lovely tribes
Of Flora's transient reign:

They bud, blow, wither, fall, and die;
Then turn to earth again.

7. And thus, my dear, must ev'ry charm, Which youth is proud to share,

Alike this quick succession prove,
And the same truth declare.

8. Sickness will change the roseate hue, Which glowing health bespeaks

And age will wrinkle with its cares
The smile on beauty's cheeks

9. But as that fragrant myrtle wreath,
Will all the rest survive;
So shall the mental graces still,
Through endless ages live.

SECTION VI

Duties of the Morning.

1. SEE the time for sleep has run;
Rise before or with the sun.
Lift thy hands and humbly pray,
The Fountain of eternal day,
That, as the light serenely fair,
Illumines all the tracts of air;
The sacred spirit so may rest,
With quick'ning beams upon thy breast.
And kindly clean it all within,
From darker blemishes of sin;
And shine with grace until we view
The realm it gilds with glory too.
2. See the day that dawns in air,
Brings along its toil and care.
From the lap of night it springs,
With heaps of business on its wings:
Prepare to meet them in a mind,
That bows submissively resign'd:
That would to works appointed fall;
That knows that God has order'd all.
And whether, with a small repast,
We break the sober morning fast;
Or in our thoughts and houses lay
The future methods of the day;
Or early walk abroad to meet
Our business with industrious feet.
Whate'er we think, whate'er we do,
His glory still be kept in view.
4. O, Giver of eternal bliss,
Heav'nly Father, grant me this!
Grant it all, as well as me,

All whose hearts are fix'd on thee;
Who revere the Son above;

Who thy sacred Spirit love!

PARNEL

SECTION VII.

The mind to be cultivated.

1. HEAR, ye fair mothers of our isle,
Nor scorn your poet's homely style.
What tho' my thoughts be quaint or new,
I'll warrant that my doctrine's true:
Or if my sentiments be old,
Remember, truth is sterling gold.
2. You judge it of important weight,
To keep your rising offspring straight?
For this such anxious moments feel,
And ask the friendly aid of steel;
For this import the distant cane,
Or slay the monarch of the main.
8. And shall the soul be warp'd aside,
By passion, prejudice, and pride?
Deformity of heart I call

The worst deformity of all.
4. Your cares to body are confin'd;
Few fear obliquity of mind.
Why not adorn the better part?
This is a nobler theme for art.
For what is form, or what is face,
But the soul's index, or its case?
5. Now take a simile at hand;
Compare the mental soil to land.
Shall fields be till'd with annual care,
And minds lie fallow ev'ry year?
O, since the crop depends on you,
Give them the culture which is due:
Hoe ev'ry weed, and dress the soil;
So harvest shall repay your
toil.

6. If human minds resemble trees,
(As ev'ry moralist agrees,)

Prune all the stragglers of your vine;
Then shall the purple clusters shine.
The gard'ner knows, that fruitful life
Demands his salutary knife:
For every wild luxuriant shoot,
Or robs the bloom, or starves the fruit.

COTTON.

SECTION VIII.

Dependence on Providence.

1. REGARD the world with cautious eye,
Nor raise your expectation high.
See that the balanc'd scales be such,
You neither fear nor hope too much.
For disappointment's not the thing;
'Tis pride and passion point the sting.
2. Life is a sea where storms must rise;
'Tis folly talks of cloudless skies:
He who contracts his swelling sail,
Eludes the fury of the gale.

3. Be still, nor anxious thoughts employ;
Distrust embitters present joy:

On God for all events depend;

You cannot want when God's your friend.
Weigh well your part, and do your best;
Leave to your Maker all the rest.

4. The hand which form'd thee in the womb,
Guides from the cradle to the tomb.
Can the fond mother slight her boy?
Can she forget her prattling joy?
Say then, shall sov'reign Love desert
The humble and the honest heart?
5. Heav'n may not grant thee all thy mind;
Yet say not thou that Heav'n's unkind.
God is alike, both good and wise,
In what he grants, and what denies :
Perhaps, what Goodness gives to-day,
To-morrow, Goodness takes away.
6 You say, that troubles intervene ;
That sorrows darken half the scene.
True-and this consequence you see,
The world was ne'er design'd for thee:
You're like a passenger below,
That stays perhaps a night or so
But still his native country lies
Beyond the bound'ries of the skies.
7 Of Heav'n ask virtue, wisdom, health;
But never let thy pray'r be wealth.

If food be thine, (tho' little gold,)
And raiment to repel the cold;
Such as may nature's wants suffice,
Not what from pride and folly rise;
If soft the motions of thy soul,

And a calm conscience crowns the whole :
Add but a friend to all this store,

You can't in reason wish for more:

And if kind Heav'n this comfort brings,
"Tis more than Heav'n bestows on kings.

COTTON

141

CHAPTER IV.

DESCRIPTIVE PIECES.

SECTION I.

The pleasures of retirement.

1. HAPPY the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound;
Content to breathe his native air,

In his own ground.

2. Whose herds with milk, whose fields witn bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

8. Blest who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years, slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.

4. Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
Together mix'd; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.

5. Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die,

Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.