Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey, That only shelter'd thefts of harmless love. Good Heaven! what sorrows gloom'd that parting day, That call'd them from their native walks away; When the poor exiles, every pleasure past, Hung round their bowers, and fondly look'd their last, And took a long farewel, and wish'd in vain For seats like these beyond the western main; To new-found worlds, and wept for other's woe; But for himself, in conscious virtue brave, He only wish'd for worlds beyond the M grave. His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears, With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes, Whilst her fond husband strove to lend relief In all the silent manliness of grief. O, Luxury! thou curs'd by heaven's decree, How ill exchang'd are things like these for thee! How do thy potions with insidious joy Diffuse their pleasures only to destroy! Kingdoms by thee, to sickly greatness grown, Boast of a florid vigour not their own. At every draught more large and large they grow, A bloated mass of rank unwieldy woe; Till sapp'd their strength, and every part unsound, Down, down they sink, and spread a ruin round. E'en now the devastation is begun, And half the business of destruction done; E'en now, methinks, as pond'ring here I stand, I see the rural virtues leave the land. Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail, That idly waiting flaps with every gale, Downward they move, a melancholy band, Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand. Contented toil, and hospitable care, And kind connubial tenderness, are there; And piety with wishes plac'd above, And steady loyalty, and faithful love. And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid, Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe, That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so; Thou guide, by which the nobler arts excel, Teach him, that states of native strength possest That Trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay, |