ON A SIMILAR OCCASION. FOR THE YEAR 1793. De sacris autem hæc sit una sententia, ut conserventur. CIC. DE LEG. But let us all concur in this one sentiment, that things sacred be inviolate. He lives who lives to God alone, And all are dead beside; For other source than God is none To live to God is to requite But life, within a narrow ring Is falsely named, and no such thing, Can life in them deserve the name, Who only live to prove For what poor toys they can disclaim Who much diseased, yet nothing feel; Who deem his house a useless place, Who trample order; and the day If scorn of God's commands, impress'd With life that cannot die; Such want it, and that want, uncured Sad period to a pleasant course! Yet so will God repay Sabbaths profaned without remorse, And mercy cast away. ON A GOLDFINCH, STARVED TO DEATH IN HIS CAGE. TIME was when I was free as air, But gaudy plumage, sprightly strain, And of a transient date; For, caught and caged, and starved to death, In dying sighs my little breath. Soon pass'd the wiry grate. Thanks, gentle swain, for all my woes, And thanks for this effectual close And cure of every ill! More cruelty could none express; Had been your prisoner still. THE PINEAPPLE AND THE BEE. THE pineapples, in triple row, The nymph between two chariot glasses, She is the pineapple, and he The silly unsuccessful bee. The maid who views with pensive air The showglass fraught with glittering ware, 284 THE PINEAPPLE AND THE BEE. Sees watches, bracelets, rings, and lockets, Our dear delights are often such, HORACE, BOOK II. ODE X. RECEIVE, dear friend, the truths I teach, Along the treacherous shore. He that holds fast the golden mean, The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, Imbittering all his state. |