In many a way, and vain essay,
I courted fortune’s favour, O;
Some cause unseen still stept between,
To frustrate each endeavour, O:
Sometimes by foes I was o’erpower’d,
Sometimes by friends forsaken, O,
And when my hope was at the top,
I still was worst mistaken, O.
IV.
Then sore harass’d, and tir’d at last,
With fortune’s vain delusion, O,
I dropt my schemes, like idle dreams,
And came to this conclusion, O:
The past was bad, and the future hid;
Its good or ill untried, O;
But the present hour, was in my pow’r
And so I would enjoy it, O.
V.
No help, nor hope, nor view had I,
Nor person to befriend me, O;
So I must toil, and sweat and broil,
And labour to sustain me, O:
To plough and sow, to reap and mow,
My father bred me early, O;
For one, he said, to labour bred,
Was a match for fortune fairly, O.
VI.
Thus all obscure, unknown, and poor,
Thro’ life I’m doom’d to wander, O,
Till down my weary bones I lay,
In everlasting slumber, O.
No view nor care, but shun whate’er
Might breed me pain or sorrow, O:
I live to-day as well’s I may,
Regardless of to-morrow, O.
VII.
But cheerful still, I am as well,
As a monarch in a palace, O,
Tho’ Fortune’s frown still hunts me down,
With all her wonted malice, O:
I make indeed my daily bread,
But ne’er can make it farther, O;
But, as daily bread is all I need,
I do not much regard her, O.
VIII.