Thy fondness was the same for them, and none Lov'd to associate oft'ner with the young, Join'd in their feelings, or tho' youth was gone, Appear'd more sprightly 'mid a lively throng.

And I have seen thee tending on the old,

Forget thy weaken'd frame and lengthen'd term, Brisk as a maid, whose charms but just unfold, Waits on her grandsire aged and infirm.

-But cease, O Labour, of the midnight strain, 8
When nature's slumbers o'er my eye-lids creep,
Nor let me from th' indulgent sweet refrain,
That hushes ev'ry care and toil in sleep.

Oh! may I thus, when comes th' appointed time,
In strength of manhood, or to age delay'd,
As easy as I close this humble rhyme,
Die in the slumbers of a form decay'd! 9

Without one terror sharpen'd by remorse,
That ever looks, yet fears to look behind;
Without a wish to lengthen more my course ;
Without a doubt the promis'd hopes to find.

Meanwhile I cease reluctant, and the Muse
Forbears to touch the sadly pleasing string,
'Till the next eve another toil renews, 10
And other numbers, other virtues sing.

For tho' thy excellence has deck'd this song,
A brighter spark of virtue still remains,
Than e'er from beauty or from talents sprung,
And now its praises claim my pensive strains.

To all the paths are open, and require
No effort of the mind to be pursu'd;
The high and lowly may alike aspire,
And gain the humble science to be good.

END OF CANTO 1.

CANTO IV.

Triumph of Old Age.

AN ELEGIAC POEM.

CANTO IV.

Moral and Religious Virtues.

'Tis pleasant coolness, when the day declines, To sit on grassy upland, and to view

The sun retiring, as it mildly shines, 'Till comes the chillness of the falling dew.

'Tis then a transport for the eye, to mark The warbler soaring in the blue profound; 'Till lost in distance, and unseen the lark, Her track is pointed only by the sound.