You wonder how, without one liberal joy, Heav'n form'd him too, and doubtless for some use; [views. But Crane-court knows not yet all nature's 'Tis chiefly taste, or blunt, or gross, or fine, Makes life insipid, bestial, or divine. Better be born, with Taste, to little rent, Than the dull monarch of a continent. Without this bounty which the gods bestow, As well might Fortune in her frolic vein, Tempè's soft charms, the raging watry waste, Yet these are joys, with some of better clay, To soothe the toils of life's embarrass'd way. These the fine frame with charming horrors chill, And give the nerves delightfully to thrill. Is to behold in man's obnoxious state Shock'd with surrounding shapes of human woe, All that or sense or fancy could bestow, You would reject with sick and coy disdain, But if Life's better prospects to behold So much delight the man of generous mould; How happy they, the great, the godlike few, Who daily cultivate this pleasing view! This is a joy possess'd by few indeed! Dame Fortune has so many fools to feed, She cannot oft afford, with all her store, To yield her smiles where Nature smil'd before. generous deeds as we with tears admire; Deeds that, above Ambition's vulgar aim, Secure an amiable, a solid fame: [seize; These are such joys as Heaven's first favourites These please you now, and will for ever please. Too seldom we great moral deeds admire; The will, the power, th' occasion must conspire. Yet few there are so impotent and low, But can some small good offices bestow. more. Unhappy he! who feels each neighbour's woe, Yet no relief, no comfort can bestow. Unhappy too, who feels each kind essay, Must the best movements of his soul restrain. Not only to the good we owe good-will; In good and bad, Distress demands it still. This, with the generous, lays distinction low, Endears a friend, and recommends a foe. Not that resentment never ought to rise; For even excess of virtue ranks with vice: And there are villanies no bench can awe, That sport without the limits of the law. No laws th' ungenerous crime would reprehend, Could I forgot Eumenes was my friend. |