The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) and Two Rambler papers (1750) | Page 6

Days,
In Health, in Sickness,
thus the Suppliant prays;
Hides from himself his State, and shuns to
know,
That Life protracted is protracted Woe.
Time hovers o'er,
impatient to destroy,
And shuts up all the Passages of Joy:
In vain
their Gifts the bounteous Seasons pour,
The Fruit Autumnal, and the
Vernal Flow'r,
With listless Eyes the Dotard views the Store,
He
views, and wonders that they please no more;
Now pall the tastless
Meats, and joyless Wines,
And Luxury with Sighs her Slave resigns.


Approach, ye Minstrels, try the soothing Strain,
And yield the
tuneful Lenitives of Pain:
No Sounds alas would touch th' impervious
Ear,
Though dancing Mountains witness'd Orpheus near;
Nor Lute
nor Lyre his feeble Pow'rs attend,
Nor sweeter Musick of a virtuous
Friend,
But everlasting Dictates croud his Tongue,
Perversely grave,
or positively wrong.
The still returning Tale, and ling'ring Jest,

Perplex the fawning Niece and pamper'd Guest,
While growing
Hopes scarce awe the gath'ring Sneer,
And scarce a Legacy can bribe
to hear;
The watchful Guests still hint the last Offence,
The
Daughter's Petulance, the Son's Expence,
Improve his heady Rage
with treach'rous Skill,
And mould his Passions till they make his Will.

[Footnote l: Ver. 188.-288.]
Unnumber'd Maladies each Joint invade,
Lay Siege to Life and press
the dire Blockade;
But unextinguish'd Av'rice still remains,
And
dreaded Losses aggravate his Pains;
He turns, with anxious Heart and
cripled Hands,
His Bonds of Debt, and Mortgages of Lands;
Or
views his Coffers with suspicious Eyes,
Unlocks his Gold, and counts
it till he dies.
But grant, the Virtues of a temp'rate Prime
Bless with an Age exempt
from Scorn or Crime;
An Age that melts in unperceiv'd Decay,
And
glides in modest Innocence away;
Whose peaceful Day Benevolence
endears,
Whose Night congratulating Conscience cheers;
The
gen'ral Fav'rite as the gen'ral Friend:
Such Age there is, and who
could wish its End?
Yet ev'n on this her Load Misfortune flings,
To press the weary
Minutes flagging Wings:
New Sorrow rises as the Day returns,
A
Sister sickens, or a Daughter mourns.
Now Kindred Merit fills the
fable Bier,
Now lacerated Friendship claims a Tear.
Year chases
Year, Decay pursues Decay,
Still drops some Joy from with'ring Life
away;
New Forms arise, and diff'rent Views engage,
Superfluous
lags the Vet'ran on the Stage,
Till pitying Nature signs the last

Release,
And bids afflicted Worth retire to Peace.
But few there are whom Hours like these await,
Who set unclouded
in the Gulphs of Fate.
From Lydia's Monarch should the Search
descend,
By Solon caution'd to regard his End,
In Life's last Scene
what Prodigies surprise,
Fears of the Brave, and Follies of the Wise?

From Marlb'rough's Eyes the Streams of Dotage flow,
And Swift
expires a Driv'ler and a Show.
The[m] teeming Mother, anxious for her Race,
Begs for each Birth
the Fortune of a Face:
Yet Vane could tell what Ills from Beauty
spring;
And Sedley curs'd the Form that pleas'd a King.
Ye Nymphs
of rosy Lips and radiant Eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be
wise,
Whom Joys with soft Varieties invite
By Day the Frolick, and
the Dance by Night,
Who frown with Vanity, who smile with Art,

And ask the latest Fashion of the Heart,
What Care, what Rules your
heedless Charms shall save,
Each Nymph your Rival, and each Youth
your Slave?
An envious Breast with certain Mischief glows,
And
Slaves, the Maxim tells, are always Foes,
Against your Fame with
Fondness Hate combines,
The Rival batters, and the Lover mines.

With distant Voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard, and less the
faint Remonstrance falls;
Tir'd with Contempt, she quits the slipp'ry
Reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her Seat in vain.
In croud at
once, where none the Pass defend,
The harmless Freedom, and the
private Friend.
The Guardians yield, by Force superior ply'd;
By
Int'rest, Prudence; and by Flatt'ry, Pride.
Here Beauty falls betray'd,
despis'd, distress'd,
And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.


[Footnote m: Ver. 289-345.]
Where[n] then shall Hope and Fear their Objects find?
Must dull
Suspence corrupt the stagnant Mind?
Must helpless Man, in
Ignorance sedate,
Swim darkling down the Current of his Fate?

Must no Dislike alarm, no Wishes rise,
No Cries attempt the Mercies
of the Skies?
Enquirer, cease, Petitions yet remain,
Which Heav'n

may hear, nor deem Religion vain.
Still raise for Good the
supplicating Voice,
But leave to Heav'n the Measure and the Choice.

Safe in his Pow'r, whose Eyes discern afar
The secret Ambush of a
specious Pray'r.
Implore his Aid, in his Decisions rest,
Secure
whate'er he gives, he gives the best.
Yet with the Sense of sacred
Presence prest,
When strong Devotion fills thy glowing Breast,

Pour forth thy Fervours for a healthful Mind,
Obedient Passions, and
a Will resign'd;
For Love, which scarce collective Man can fill;
For
Patience sov'reign o'er transmuted Ill;
For Faith, that panting for a
happier Seat,
Thinks Death kind Nature's Signal of Retreat:
These
Goods for Man the Laws of Heav'n ordain,
These Goods he grants,
who grants the Pow'r to gain;
With these celestial Wisdom calms the
Mind,
And makes the Happiness she does not find.
[Footnote n:
Ver. 346-366.]
FINIS.
THE RAMBLER.
NUMB. 5. Price 2 d.
TUESDAY, April 3, 1750.
To be continued on_ TUESDAYS _and SATURDAYS.
_Et nunc omnis Ager, nunc omnis parturit Arbos,
Nunc frondent
Silvae, nunc formosissimus Annus_.
VIRG.
Every Man is sufficiently discontented with some Circumstances of his
present State,