PLEASING—PLEASURE.
The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him.—Psalm cxlvii. 11.
He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.—Proverbs, xxi. 17.
Hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, evil shall come upon thee.—Isaiah, xlvii. 8, 11.
Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.—Colossians, i. 10.
So we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.—I. Thessalonians, ii. 4.
Admirers of false pleasures must sustain
The weight and sharpness of ensuing pain.
John Beaumont.
Short is the course of every lawless pleasure—
Grief, like a shade, on all its footsteps waits,
Scarce visible in joy’s meridian height;
But, downwards as its blaze declining speeds,
The dwarfish shadow to a giant spreads.
Milton.
Pleasures are few, and fewer we enjoy;
Pleasure, like quicksilver, is bright and coy;
We strive to grasp it, with our utmost skill,
Still it eludes us, and it glitters still:
If seized at last, compute your mighty gains;
What is it but rank poison in your veins?
Young.
Pleasure is good, and man for pleasure made;
But pleasure full of glory as of joy;
Pleasure which neither blushes nor expires.
*****
Death treads in pleasure’s footsteps round the world,
When pleasure treads the paths which reason shuns.
Young.
Pleasure, admitted in undue degree,
Enslaves the will, nor leaves the judgment free.
*****
Peace follows virtue as its sure reward;
And pleasure brings as surely in her train
Remorse, and sorrow, and vindictive pain.
Cowper.
Pleasures, like wonders, quickly lose their price,
When reason or experience makes us wise.
Bishop King.
If the soft hand of winning pleasure leads
By living waters and through flowery meads,
Where all is smiling, tranquil, and serene;
And vernal beauty paints the flattering scene;
Oh! teach me to elude each latent snare,
And whisper to my sliding heart—Beware!
With caution let me hear the syren’s voice,
And doubtful with a trembling heart rejoice.
Mrs. Barbauld.
Graces withered by too warm a beam,
May spread and flourish in the dreary shade:
And pleasure, to voluptuous guilt denied,
May bloom ambrosial from affliction’s thorn.
George Bally.
All these fond pleasures, if fond things
Deserve so good a name,
Should not seduce a noble mind
To stain itself with shame.
The time shall come when all these same,
Which seem so rich with joy,
Like tyrants, shall torment thy mind,
And vex thee with annoy.
Brandon.
I ask Thee for the daily strength,
To none that ask denied,
And a mind to blend with outward life
While keeping at Thy side;
Content to fill a little space,
If Thou be glorified.
And if some things I do not ask,
In my cup of blessing be,
I would have my spirit fill’d the more
With grateful love to Thee—
More careful—not to serve Thee much,
But to please Thee perfectly.
A. L. Waring.
That pleasure is of all
Most bountiful and kind,
That fades not straight, but leaves
A living joy behind.
Campion.