Nor then destroys it with too fond a stay,

Like mothers who their infants overlay;

Nor with a sudden and impetuous wave,

Like profuse kings, resumes the wealth he gave.

No unexpected inundations spoil

The mower’s hopes, or mock the plowman’s toil;

But God-like his unwearied bounty flows;

First loves to do, then loves the good he does.

Nor are his blessings to his banks confin’d,

But free and common, as the sea or wind;