THOU, who thro’ nature’s various maze can’st rove,
And shew what springs the rapid passions move;
Teach us to combat anger, grief, and fear,
Recal the sigh, and check the flatting tear;
Why was thy soft philosophy addrest,
All to the vacant ear, and quiet breast?
With ease may peaceful apathy be taught
To those who stagnate in a calm of thought
Whose hearts by love or hate were ne’er possest;
Who ne’er were wretched, and who ne’er were blest:
Who one dull slumber through their lives maintain,
And only dream of pleasures and of pain.
Serenely stupid. So some gentle stream
Steals thro’ the winding valleys still the same;
So silent down the muddy channel creeps;
While the soft zephyr on its bosom sleeps.
My fervent soul a nobler art requires,
Not to suppress, but regulate her fires:
Some better guides, who temperately wife
Allow to feel, yet teach us to despise.
To reason’s sway subject the soul’s domain,
And not subdue the passions, but restrain.