"What though bland Flattery all her arts apply?
Will these avail to calm th' infuriate brain?
Or will the roaring surge, when heav'd on high,
Headlong hang, hush'd, to hear the piping swain?
"In health how fair, how ghastly in decay
Man's lofty form! how heavenly fair the mind
Sublim'd by Virtue's sweet enlivening sway!
But ah! to guilt's outrageous rule resign'd,
"How hideous and forlorn! when ruthless Care
With cankering tooth corrodes the seeds of life,
And deaf with passion's storms when pines Despair,
And howling furies rouse th' eternal strife.
"O, by thy hopes of joy that restless glow,
Pledges of Heaven! be taught by Wisdom's lore:
With anxious haste each doubtful path forego,
And life's wild ways with cautious fear explore.
"Straight be thy course; nor tempt the maze that leads
Where fell Remorse his shapeless strength conceals:
And oft Ambition's dizzy cliff he treads,
And slumbers oft in Pleasure's flowery vales.
"Nor linger unresolv'd: Heaven prompts the choice;
Save when Presumption shuts the ear of Pride:
With grateful awe attend to Nature's voice,
The voice of Nature Heaven ordain'd thy guide.
"Warn'd by her voice the arduous path pursue,
That leads to Virtue's fane a hardy band.
What, though no gaudy scenes decoy their view,
Nor clouds of fragrance roll along the land;
"What, though rude mountains heave the flinty way,
Yet there the soul drinks light and life divine,
And pure aërial gales of gladness play,
Brace every nerve, and every sense refine.
"Go, prince, be virtuous and be blest. The throne
Rears not its state to swell the couch of Lust;
Nor dignify Corruption's daring son,
T' o'erwhelm his humbler brethren of the dust.
"But yield an ampler scene to Bounty's eye,
And ampler range to Mercy's ear expand;
And 'midst admiring nations, set on high
Virtue's fair model, fram'd by Wisdom's hand.