770 776 780 They may confirm his habits, rivet fast 785 79€ 795 * Benet College, Cambridge.—(C.) It is now better known as Corpus Christi. And give the world their talents and themselves, 801 805 See then the quiver broken and decayed, In which are kept our arrows! Rusting there In wild disorder, and unfit for use, What wonder, if discharged into the world, They shame their shooters with a random flight, Their points obtuse, and feathers drunk with wine! Well may the Church wage unsuccessful war, With such artillery armed. Vice parries wide 810 The undreaded volley with a sword of straw, And stands an impudent and fearless mark. 815 820 Have we not tracked the felon home, and found His birth-place and his dam? The country mourns, Mourns because every plague that can infest Society, and that saps and worms the base Of the edifice that policy has raised, Swarms in all quarters; meets the eye, the ear, And suffocates the breath at every turn. Profusion breeds them; and the cause itself Of that calamitous mischief has been found: Found too where most offensive, in the skirts Of the robed pedagogue! Else let the arraigned Stand up unconscious, and refute the charge. So when the Jewish leader stretched his arm, And waved his rod divine, a race obscene, Spawned in the muddy beds of Nile, came forth, Polluting Egypt: gardens, fields, and plains Were covered with the pest; the streets were filled; The croaking nuisance lurked in every nook; Nor palaces, nor even chambers, 'scaped; And the land stank-so numerous was the fry 825 830 ARGUMENT. SELF-RECOLLECTION and reproof. Address to domestic happiness. Some account of myself. The vanity of many of their pursuits who are reputed wise. Justification of my censures. Divine illumination necessary to the most expert philosopher. The question, What is truth? answered by other questions. Domestic happiness addressed again. Few lovers of the country. My tame hare. Occupations of a retired gentleman in his garden; pruning; framing. Greenhouse. Sowing of flower seeds. The country preferable to the town even in the winter. Reasons why it is deserted at that season. Ruinous effects of gaming, and of expensive improvement. Book concludes with an apostrophe to the metropolis. THE TASK. BOOK III. THE GARDEN. S one who long in thickets and in brakes Entangled, winds now this way and now that His devious course uncertain, seeking Or having long in miry ways been foiled And winds his way with pleasure and with ease; 5 11. 15 20 |