CANTO IV
THE various, the uncertain views
Which the all-anxious world pursues,
While it directs its searching eye
To what is call'd prosperity,
Compose the gen'ral, pictur'd strife
That forms the daily scene of life;
And make up the uncertain measure
Of power, of riches, and of pleasure; |
Which, whatsoe'er may be our state,
Do on the varying projects wait
Of lowly poor or princely great: | } |
For as all worldly things move on
We weigh them by comparison.
Thus he who boasts his little all
At a street-corner on a stall,
Tempting the gaze of wandering eyes
To view the transient merchandise,
Will look to Fortune's smile to bless
His humble trading with success,
As he whose freighted vessel sails
O'er distant seas with doubtful gales.
Nay, in Ambition's humble school
Perceive we not the love of rule,
O'er rustic swains to bear the rod
And be a village demi-god?
To gain command and take the lead
Where mean submission courts a head,
Does in the lowest class prevail
Of vulgar thoughts to turn the scale,
As that which on their wishes wait,
Whose object is to rule the state.
—Seek you for pleasure as it flows,
In ev'ry soil the flow'ret grows;
From the pale primrose of the dale
Nurs'd only by the vernal gale, |
To the rich plant of sweets so rare
Whose tints the rainbow colours share
And drinks conservatorial air. | } |
But, 'tis so subject to the blast,
It cannot promise long to last;
Though still it 'joys the fragrant day,
Till nature bids it pass away.
The rude boy turns the circling rope,
Or flies a kite or spins a top,
When, a stout stripling, he is seen
With bat and ball upon the green;
The later pleasures then await
On humble life whate'er its state,
And are with equal ardor sought
As those with high refinement wrought,
Where birth and wealth and taste combine
To make the festive brilliance shine. |
Thus the same passions govern all
Who creep on this terrestrial ball:
Their objects, truly, are the same,
However shap'd, whate'er their name.
What though the varying plan confounds
In giving sixpences or pounds,