Soar higher yet, till thou shalt calmly heard a
The Mufick of a well-tun'd Sphere:
Then on the lumpish Mafs look down,and thou shalt know
The Madness of the World, for groveling ftill below.
Grant 'tis bad, but there is fome relief
In the Society of Grief.
'Tis fweet to him that mourns to fee b
A whole House clad in Sorrow's Livery.
Grief in Communion does remifs appear,
Like barker founds in Confort, which less grate the Ear.
II.
Men would not Curfe the Stars, did they difpenfe
In common their ill Influence..
Let none be Rich, and Poverty:
Would not be thought fo great a Milery.
Our difcontent is from comparison;
Were better States unfeen, each Man would like his own.
III.
Should partial Seas wreck my poor Ship alone,
I might with caufe my Fate bemoan.
But fince before I fink, I fee
A Numerous Fleet of Ships defcend with me,
Why don't I with content my Breath resign?
I will, and in the greater Ruine bury mine.
The CHOICE.
Stet quicunque volet potens
Aula culmine lubrico, &c.
'O, I shan't envy him, who'er he be,
That stands upon the Battlements of State;
Stand there who will for me,
I'd rather be fecure than great.
Of being to high the pleasure is but small,
But long the Ruin, if I chance to fall.
Let me in some sweet Shade ferenely lye,
Happy in leisure and obfcurity;
Whilft others place their joys
In Popularity and Noife.
Let my foft Minutes glide obfcurely on,
Like fubterraneous Streams, unheard, unknown.
III.
Thus when my Days are all in filence past,
A good plain Country-Man I'll dye at last.
Death cannot chufe but be
To him a mighty Mifery,
Who to the World was popularly known,
And dies a Stranger to himself alone.
T must be done (my Soul) but 'tis a ftrange,
A difmal and Mysterious Change,
When thou shalt leave this Tenement of Clay,
And to an unknown fomewhere wing away;
When Time fhall be Eternity, and thou
Shalt be thou know'ft not what, and live thou
Amazing State! No wonder that we dread
To think of Death, or view the Dead,
Thou'rt all wrapt up in Clouds, as if to thee
Our very Knowledge had Antipathy.
Death could not a more Sad Retinue find,
Sickness and Pain before, and Darkness all behind.
III.
Some Courteous Ghoft, tell this great Secrecy,
What 'tis you are, and we must be.
You warn us of approaching Death, and why
May we not know from you what 'tis to Dye?
But you, having fhat the Gulph, delight to fee
Succeeding Souls plunge in with like Uncertainty.
When Life's clofe Knot by Writ from Destiny,
Disease fhall cut, or Age unty;
When after fome Delays, fome dying Strife,
The Soul ftands fhivering on the Ridge of Life;
With what a dreadful Curiofity
Does the launch out into the Sea of vaft Eternity!
So when the fpacious Globe was delug'd o'er,
And lower Holds could fave no more,
On th' utmost Bough th' aftonifh'd Sinners flood,
And view'd th' Advances of th' encroaching Flood.
O'ertopp'd at length by th' Element's Encrease,
With Horror they refign'd to the untry'd Abyss.
Little thought (my Damon) once, that you
Could prove, and what is more, to me, untrue.
Can I forget fuch Treachery, and Live?
Mercy it felf would not this Crime forgive.
Heaven's Gates refufe to let Apoftates in,
No, that's the Great unpardonable Sin.
Did you not Vow by all the Powers above,
That you could none but dear Orinda love?
Did you not fwear by all that is Divine,
That you would only be and ever mine?
You did, and yet you live fecurely too,
And think that Heaven's falle as well as you.
III.
Believe me, Love's a thing much too divine
Thus to be Ap'd, and made a mere Defign.
'Tis no lefs Crime than Treafon here to feign,
'Tis Counterfeiting of a Royal Coin.
But ah! Hypocrify's no where fo common grown
As in moft Sacred Things, Love and Religion.
Go seek new Conquests, go, you have my Leave,
You fhall not Grieve her whom you could deceive.
I don't lament, but pity what you do,
Nor take that Love as loft, which ne'r was true.
The way that's left you to befriend my Fate,
Is now to prove more conftant in your Hate.
The ADVICE.
Prudens futuri temporis exitum
Caliginofa nocte premit Deus. Hor.
What's forming in the Womb of Fate
Why art thou fo concern'd to know?
Doft think 'twou'd be Advantage to thy State?
But Wifer Heaven does not think it fo.
With thy Content thou would't this Knowledge buy,
No Part of Life thoud'it pleafant find
For dread of what thou fee'ft behind,
Thou would't but raft of the inlightning Fruit and dye.
Well then, has Heaven Events to come
Hid with the blackeft Veil of Night;
But still in vain if we forestall our Doom,
And with Prophetick Fears our felves affright:
Grand Folly! whether thus 'twill be or no
We Know not, and yet filly Man
Secures his Evils what he can,
And ftabs himself with Grief, left Fate fhould miss the
Be Wife, and let it be thy Care
To manage well the prefent Hour;
Call home thy ranging Thoughts and fix them here,
This only Mind, this only's in thy Power.
The reft no fetled, fteddy Courfe maintain,
Like Rivers, which now gently flide
Within their Bounds, now with full Tide
O'erflow, whom Houfes, Cattle, Trees refift in vain.
IV.
'Tis He that's happy, he alone
Lives free and pleafant that can fay
With every Period of the fetting Sun,
I've lived, and run my Race like him to Day.
To Morrow let the angry Heavens frown,
Or fmile with Influence more kind,
On Chance depends what's yet behind,
But fure what I have feiz'd already's all my own.
Fortune who no Diverfion knows
Like Difappointment, laughs to fee
How Varionfly the can her Gifts Tranfpafe,
Sometimes to one, fometimes t' another free.
Be fure to enjoy her while fhe's pleas'd to stay.
But if for Fligbe the does prepare,
Don't you at parting drop a Tear,
Sur hold your are fatt, for that alone you may.
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