Alas! what pleasure - when some vig’rous boy

Should swell thy pride, some rosy girl thy joy;

Is it to doubt who grafted this sweet flower,

Or whence arose that spirit and that power?

“Four years I’ve wed; not one has passed in vain;

Behold the fifth! behold a babe again!

My wife’s gay friends th’ unwelcome imp admire,

And fill the room with gratulation dire:

While I in silence sate, revolving all

That influence ancient men, or that befall;