FRAGMENT.

Aldborough, 1778.

Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?

Proud, little Man, opinion's slave.

Error's fond child, too duteous to be free,

Say, from the cradle to the grave,

Is not the earth thou tread'st too grand for thee?

This globe that turns thee, on her agile wheel

Moves by deep springs, which thou canst never feel;

Her day and night, her centre and her sun,

Untraced by thee, their annual courses run.

A busy fly, thou sharest the march divine,

And flattering fancy calls the motion thine;

Untaught how soon some hanging grave may burst,

And join thy flimsy substance to the dust.