Progressive age! for contemplation's eye,
Thy checker'd scenes a glorious field supply;
Time was when Mercury waved the potent wand,
And Nature brightened in the artist's hand,—
When mind's dominion round the world was thrown,
Before usurping Mammon seized the throne.
Aspiring genius, chill thy noble rage,
For baser uses rule our iron age;
Drive the hard bargain, mart for sordid gain,
And where it will not win, hold honor vain;
Picture 2."He wakes a patriot, presto, he is clad
As Fallstaff for the battle—raving mad." [Page 21].
To lofty subjects bring the narrow view,
Shift with each scene, and principle eschew.
Are these the elements of man's success?
Go where the busy throng all onward press;
Ay, there they flourish and will long remain,
Till virtue purge the haunts where vice doth reign.
Not to the few the moral taint's confined,
But in its boundless range infects mankind;
'Twere idle to upbraid the good old plea—
Might governs all, the rest were mock'ry.
The plumpest fly a sparrow's meal provides—
The heartless bird its agony derides:
"Nay," quoth relentless Sparrow, "you must die,
For you, weak thing, are not so strong as I."
A Hawk surprised him at his dainty meal,
In vain the Sparrow gasped his last appeal;