From this abyfs of exemplary vice

Refolv'd, as time might aid my thought, to rife;
Again I bid the mournful goddess write
The fond pursuit of fugitive delight;

Bid her exalt her melancholy wing,

And, rais'd from earth, and fav'd from paffion, fing

Of human hope by crofs event destroy'd,

of useless wealth and greatness unenjoy'd,

Of luft and love, with their fantastic train,

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Their wishes, fmiles, and looks, deceitful all, and vain.

TEXTS CHIEFLY ALLUDED TO IN BOOK III.

"Or ever the filver cord be loofed, or the golden bowl "be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,

or the wheel broken at the ciftern." Eccl. xii. 6. "The fun arifeth, and the fun goeth down, and hasteth "to his place where he arose." Ch. i. 5.

"The wind goeth towards the fouth, and turneth about "unto the north. It whirleth about continually;

“and the wind returneth again, according to his cir"cuit." Ver. 6.

"All the rivers run into the fea: yet the fea is not full. "Unto the place from whence the rivers come, thi

"ther they return again.” Ver. 7.

"Then fhall the duft return to the earth, as it was: and "the fpirit fhall return unto GOD who gave it." Ch. xii. 7.

"Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the "fire came down from Heaven, and consumed the

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burnt-offering, and the facrifices; and the glory of "the LORD filled the house." z Chron. vii. 1.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we fat down; yea "we wept, when we remembered Sion," &c. Pfalm cxxxvii. 1.

"I faid of laughter, it is mad; and of mirth, what "doth it?" Eccief. ii. 2.

"No man can find out the work that GOD maketh, "from the beginning to the end." Ch. iii. 11. "Whatfoever GCD doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing "can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and GOD "doeth it, that men fhould fear before him." Ver. 14. "Let us hear the conclufion of the whole matter; fear "GOD, and keep his commandments; for this is the “whole duty of man." Ch. xii. 13.

Solomon confiders man through the feveral ftages and conditions of life; and concludes in general, that we are all miserable. He reflects more particularly upon the trouble and uncertainty of Greatnefs and Power; gives fome inftances thereof from Adam down to himfelf; and ftill concludes that all is Vanity. He reasons again upon life, death, and a future being; finds human wisdom too imperfect to refolve his doubts; has recourse to Religion; is informed by an angel, what shall happen to himself, his family, and his kingdom, till the redemption of Ifrael; and, upon the whole, refolves to fubmit his enquiries and anxieties to the will of his Creator.

COME then, my Soul: I call thee by that name,

C

Thou busy thing, from whence I know I am :

For, knowing what I am, I know thou art;
Since that must needs exift, which can impart.
But how cam'ft thou to be, or whence thy fpring?
For various of thee priests and poets fing.
M 3

5

Hear'ft

Hear'st thou fubmiffive, but a lowly birth, Some feparate particles of finer earth,

A plain effect which nature must beget,

As motion orders, and as atoms meet;
Companion of the body's good or ill,

From force of instinct, more than choice of will;
Confcious of fear or valour, joy or pain,
As the wild courfes of the blood ordain;
Who, as degrees of heat and cold prevail,
In youth doft flourish, and with age shalt fail;
Till, mingled with thy partner's latest breath,
Thou fly'ft diffolv'd in air, and loft in death?
Or, if thy great existence would aspire
To caufes more fublime, of heavenly fire
Wert thou a fpark ftruck off, a separate ray,
Ordain'd to mingle with terrestrial clay ?
With it condemn'd for certain years to dwell,
To grieve its frailties, and its pains to feel;
To teach it good and ill, difgrace or fame;
Pale it with rage, or redden it with fhame;
To guide its actions with informing care,

In

peace to judge, to conquer in the war;
Render it agile, witty, valiant, fage,
As fits the various courfe of human age;
Till, as the earthly part decays and falls,
The captive breaks her prifon's mouldering walls;
Hovers a while upon the fad remains,
Which now the pile or fepulchre contains ;
And thence with liberty unbounded flies,

Impatient to regain her native skies?

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What

Whate'er thou art, where-e'er ordain'd to go,
(Points which we rather may dispute than know!)
Come on, thou little inmate of this breaft,
Which for thy fake from paffions I diveft,
For thefe, thou fay'ft, raise all the ftormy ftrife,
Which hinder thy repofe, and trouble life.
Be the fair level of thy actions laid,

As temperance wills, and prudence may perfuade:
Be thy affections undisturb'd and clear,
Guided to what may great or good appear;

And try if life be worth the liver's care.
Amafs'd in man, there juftly is beheld

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What through the whole creation has excell❜d:
The life and growth of plants, of beasts the sense, 50
The angel's forecast and intelligence:

Say from thefe glorious feeds what harvest flows;
Recount our bleffings, and compare our woes.
In its true light let clearest reason fee

The man dragg'd out to act, and forc'd to be;
Helpless and naked on a woman's knees,
To be expos'd or rear'd as she may please;
Feel her neglect, and pine from her disease;
His tender eye by too direct a ray

Wounded, and flying from unpractis'd day;
His heart affaulted by invading air,
And beating fervent to the vital war ;

To his young fenfe how various forms appear,
That ftrike his wonder, and excite his fear.
By his diftortions he reveals his pains;
He by his tears and by his fighs complains;

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