Or guess, with a prophetic power, The future splendour of the flower? Just so, the Omnipotent, who turns The system of a world's concerns, From mere minutiæ can educe Events of most important use, And bid a dawning sky display The blaze of a meridian day. The works of man tend, one and all, As needs they must, from great to small And vanity absorbs at length
The monuments of human strength. But who can tell how vast the plan Which this day's incident began? Too small, perhaps, the slight occasion For our dim-sighted observation; It passed unnoticed, as the bird That cleaves the yielding air unheard, And yet may prove, when understood, A harbinger of endless good.
Not that I deem, or mean to call Friendship a blessing cheap or small; But merely to remark, that ours, Like some of nature's sweetest flowers, Rose from a seed of tiny size,
That seemed to promise no such prize; A transient visit intervening,
And made almost without a meaning, (Hardly the effect of inclination, Much less of pleasing expectation), Produced a friendship, then begun, That has cemented us in one; And placed it in our power to prove, By long fidelity and love,
That Solomon has wisely spoken,— "A threefold cord is not soon broken."
TO THE REV. MR. NEWTON,
RECTOR OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, May 28, 1782.
SAYS the Pipe to the Snuff-box, I can't understand What the ladies and gentlemen see in your face, That you are in fashion all over the land,
And I am so much fallen into disgrace.
Do but see what a pretty contemplative air
I give to the company,-pray do but note 'em,—
You would think that the wise men of Greece were all there, Or, at least, would suppose them the wise men of Gotham.
My breath is as sweet as the breath of blown roses, While you are a nuisance where'er you appear; There is nothing but snivelling and blowing of noses, Such a noise as turns any man's stomach to hear.
Then lifting his lid in a delicate way,
And opening his mouth with a smile quite engaging, The box in reply was heard plainly to say,
What a silly dispute is this we are waging!
If you have a little of merit to claim,
You may thank the sweet-smelling Virginian weed; And I, if I seem to deserve any blame,
The before-mentioned drug in apology plead.
Thus neither the praise nor the blame is our own, No room for a sneer, much less a cachinnus ; We are vehicles, not of tobacco alone,
But of anything else they may choose to put in us.
CLOSE by the threshold of a door nailed fast Three kittens sat; each kitten looked aghast ; I passing swift and inattentive by,
At the three kittens cast a careless eye,
Not much concerned to know what they did there, Not deeming kittens worth a poet's care.
But presently a loud and furious hiss
Caused me to stop and to exclaim, "What's this?" When lo! upon the threshold met my view,
With head erect, and eyes of fiery hue,
A viper, long as Count de Grasse's queue.
Forth from his head his forked tongue he throws,
Darting it full against a kitten's nose,
Who having never seen, in field or house,
The like, sat still and silent as a mouse;
Only projecting with attention due,
Her whiskered face, she asked him, "Who are you?"
On to the hall went I, with pace not slow,
But swift as lightning, for a long Dutch hoe, With which well armed I hastened to the spot, To find the viper,—but I found him not; And turning up the leaves, and shrubs around, Found only, that he was not to be found. But still the kittens, sitting as before, Sat watching close the bottom of the door. "I hope," said I, "the villain I would kill Has slipped between the door and the door sill And if I make despatch and follow hard, No doubt but I shall find him in the yard ;"
For long ere now it should have been rehearsed, 'Twas in the garden that I found him first. Even there I found him, there the full-grown cat His head, with velvet paw, did gently pat, As curious as the kittens erst had been To learn what this phenomenon might mean, Filled with heroic ardour at the sight, And fearing every moment he would bite, And rob our household of our only cat
That was of age to combat with a rat,
With outstretched hoe I slew him at the door, And taught him NEVER TO COME THERE NO More.
ON FRIENDSHIP.
Amicitia nisi inter bonos esse non potest.
WHAT virtue can we name, or grace,
But men unqualified and base Will boast it their possession? Profusion apes the noble part Of liberality of heart,
And dulness of discretion.
But as the gem of richest cost Is ever counterfeited most, So, always, imitation
Employs the utmost skill she can To counterfeit the faithful man, The friend of long duration.
Some will pronounce me too severe, But long experience speaks me clear; Therefore that censure scorning, I will proceed to mark the shelves On which so many dash themselves, And give the simple warning. Youth, unadmonished by a guide, Will trust to any fair outside, - An error soon corrected; For who but learns with riper years, That man, when smoothest he appears, Is most to be suspected?
But here again a danger lies, Lest, thus deluded by our eyes, And taking trash for treasure,
We should, when undeceived, conclude Friendship imaginary good,
A mere Utopian pleasure.
An acquisition rather rare Is yet no subject of despair; Nor should it seem distressful, If either on forbidden ground, Or where it was not to be found, We sought it unsuccessful.
No friendship will abide the test That stands on sordid interest And mean self-love erected; Nor such as may awhile subsist 'Twixt sensualist and sensualist, For vicious ends connected.
Who hopes a friend, should have a heart Himself well furnished for the part, And ready on occasion
To show the virtue that he seeks ; For 'tis a union that bespeaks A just reciprocation.
A fretful temper will divide The closest knot that may be tied, By ceaseless sharp corrosion : A temper passionate and fierce May suddenly your joys disperse At one immense explosion.
In vain the talkative unite With hope of permanent delight; The secret just committed They drop through mere desire to prate, Forgetting its important weight,
And by themselves outwitted.
How bright soe'er the prospect seems, All thoughts of friendship are but dreams, If envy chance to creep in ; And envious man, if you succeed, May prove a dangerous foe indeed, But not a friend worth keeping.
As envy pines at good possessed, So jealousy looks forth distressed, On good that seems approaching, And if success his steps attend, Discerns a rival in a friend,
And hates him for encroaching. Hence authors of illustrious name, (Unless belied by common fame,) Are sadly prone to quarrel : To deem the wit a friend displays So much of loss to their own praise, And pluck each other's laurel.
A man renowned for repartee Will seldom scruple to make free With friendship's finest feeling Will thrust a-dagger at your breast, And tell you 'twas a special jest, By way of balm for healing. Beware of tattlers; keep your ear Close stopt against the tales they hear,- Fruits of their own invention; The separation of chief friends Is what their kindness most intends; Their sport is your dissension. Friendship that wantonly admits A joco-serious play of wits In brilliant altercation, Is union such as indicates, Like hand-in-hand insurance plates, Danger of conflagration.
Some fickle creatures boast a soul True as the needle to the pole ; Yet shifting, like the weather, The needle's constancy forego For any novelty, and show Its variations rather.
Insensibility makes some Unseasonably deaf and dumb
When most you need their pity; 'Tis waiting till the tears shall fall From Gog and Magog in Guildhall,— Those playthings of the city.
The great and small but rarely meet On terms of amity complete :
The attempt would scarce be madder, Should any, from the bottom, hope At one huge stride to reach the top Of an erected ladder.
Courtier and patriot cannot mix Their heterogeneous politics Without an effervescence, Such as of salts with lemon-juice, But which is rarely known to induce, Like that, a coalescence.
Religion should extinguish strife, And make a calm of human life : But even those who differ
Only on topics left at large,
How fiercely will they meet and charge!
No combatants are stiffer.
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