7 (For | human | good de l pends on human | will,)

7 Our | fortune | rolls 7 | as from a | smooth de

scent, 71 | And from the first im | pression, | |-takes the

bent; 711 But if un / seiz'd, 7 17 she glides a l way like |

wind, 7 7 And leaves re 1 penting | Folly | far be | hind. 7

III Now, 7| now she meets you | 7 with a glorious /

prize, 71 7 And / spreads her | locks be | fore you 1 7 as she

flies. 7111 7 Had | thus old | David, | 7 from whose | loins you

| spring, 71 Not 7 | dar'd, 7 | 7 when | Fortune | call’d? | him,

7 1 7 to be | king, ? | 7 At | Gath, 7 | 7 an | exile he might | still 7 | 7 ré

| main, 7 | 7 And | Heaven's a | nointing | oil, 7 | 7 had been in

| vain. 7111 Let his suc | cessful | youth 7 | 7 your | hopes en |

gage, 7 | 7 But shun | 7 the ex | ample | 7 of declining |

age; 7 11 7 Be | hold him setting 1 7 in his / western | skies,

7 The / shadows I lengthening, 1 7 as the | vapours

| rise. 7|||

7 Hel is not | now ? | as when on | Jordan's | sand

71 7 The joyful | people / throng'd to see him |

land, 1 Covering the beach, 7 | 7 and | blackening | all the

| strand; 7111 But 7 | like the prince of | angels, 7 1 7 from his /

height, 7 | Comes 7 | tumbling | downward, 1 7 with di | min

ish'd | light, 711 7 Be | tray'd by | one 7 | poor 7 | plot | 7 to | pub

lic | scorn! 71 7 (Our | only | blessing | 7 since his curs'd re |

turn!)7||| Those heaps of people, | 7 which | one 7 | sheaf 7

| did 7 | bind, 7 | Blown 7 | off, and scatter'd | 7 by a / puff of |

wind. 7111 What | strength | can he, | 7 to your de 1 signs op |

pose, 7 ) Naked of friends, 7 | 7 and round be set with |

foes? 7 111 7 If | Pharaoh's | doubtful | succour 1 7 he should |

use, 7 | 19 A | foreign | aid 7 | 7 would | more in | cense the

| Jews: 711 Proud 7 | Egypt | 7 would dis / sembled | friendship

| bring, 71 7 Fo | ment the / war, 7 | 7 but | not support the king: 71

Nor would the royal | party | leer u / nite 7 | 7 With | Pharaoh's | arms, 9 17 to as / sist the Je

busite; | | Or if they should, 9 17 their | interest | soon

would break, 7 ) 1 And with such | odious / aid, 7.1 7. make | David |

weak. 711 All 7 | sorts of men, 717 by I my successful |

arts, 7] 17 Ab | horring | kings, 7 1 7 es litrange their |

alter'd | hearts-7 | 7 From | David's rule: | 17 and [ 'tis their | gene

ral | cry, 7 | 7 Re | ligion, | | Commonwealth, | 7 and | Liberty!

1

7 If | you, 7 | 7 as champion of the fi public | good,

Add to their | arms, 7 17 a | chief of | royal | blood,

71 What may not | Israel | hope, 7 | 7 and what ap |

plause. 71 7 Might | such a general I gain, 7117 by | such a |

cause! 711 Not 7 | barren | praise 7 | 7a | lone, 7| that I gaudy

flower, 71 Fair | only to the | sight, 1 7 but | solid | power; | 1:7 And nobler | 7. is a | limited com \, mand, 7|| | Giv'n by the | love of all your native land, 7 | | Than a successive title, l | long and dark, 7

Il

Drawn from the | mouldy | rolls 7 1 7 of | Noah's |

ark. | 1 |

APOSTROPHE TO LIGHT.

MILTON.

Hail holy Light, offspring of Heav'n first born,

Or of the Eternal co-eternal beam,
May I express thee unblam'd? Since God is light,
And never but in unapproached light
Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee,

Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
Or hears't thou rather, pure etherial stream,
Whose fountain who shall tell ? Before the sun,
Before the Heav'ns thou, wert, and at the voice
Of God as with a mantle, didst invest
The rising world of waters dark and deep

Won from the void and formless infinite.
Thee I revisit now with bolder wing,
Escap'd the Stygian pool though long detain'd
In that obscure sojourn while in my flight
Through utter and through middle darkness borne,
With other notes than to the Orphean lyre
I sung of chaos and eternal night,
Taught by the heavenly Muse to venture down

The dark descent,and up to re-ascend,
Though hard and rare; thee I revisit safe
And feel thy sov'reign vital lamp; but thou
Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain
To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
So thick a drop serene hath quench'd their orbs
Or dim suffusion veil'd. Yet not the more
Cease I to wander where the muses haunt,
Clear spring or shady grove, or sunny hill,

Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief
Thee Sion, and the flow'ry brooks beneath
That wash thy hallow'd feet, and warbling flow,

Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget Those other two equall'd with me in fate,

So were I equall'd with them in renown,

Blind Thamyris, and blind Mæonides, And Tyresias and Phineus, prophets old Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful bird Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid Tunes her nocturnal note.

Thus with the year Seasons return, but not to me returns Day or the sweet approach of ev'n and morn; Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine ;