The praise bestowed was just and wise; He sprang impetuous forth, Secure of conquest, where the prize So the best courser on the plain Ere yet he starts is known, And does but at the goal obtain What all had deemed his own. 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 power pursue, We therefore need not part. Where wilt thou dwell, if not with me, From avarice and ambition free, And pleasure's fatal wiles? For whom, alas! dost thou prepare The sweets, that I was wont to share, The great, the gay, shall they partake The heaven, that thou alone canst make? And wilt thou quit the stream, That murmurs through the dewy mead, The grove and the sequestered shed, For thee 1 panted, thee I prized, Whate'er I loved before; And shall I see thee start away, And helpless, hopeless, hear thee say Farewell! we meet no more? 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. Some foe to his upright intent Finds out his weaker part; Virtue engages his assent, But pleasure wins his heart. '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 And dangers little known, A stranger to superior strength, But oars alone can ne'er prevail The breath of Heaven must swell the sail, Or all the toil is lost. THE MODERN PATRIOT. REBELLION is my theme all day; A little nearer home. Yon roaring boys, who rave and fight I always held them in the right, When lawless mobs insult the court, But oh! for him my fancy culls Who constitutionally pulls Your house about your ears. Such civil broils are my delight, Though some folks can't endure them, Who say the mob are mad outright, A rope! I wish we patriots had Then farewell British freedom. |