Alas! not dazzl'd with their noon-tide ray,305
Compute the morn and ev'ning to the day;
The whole amount to that enormous fame,
A tale that blends their glory with their shame!
Know then this truth, (enough for man to know)
'Virtue alone is happiness below.'310
The only point where human bliss stands still,
And tastes the good without the fall to ill;
Where only merit constant pay receives,
Is bless'd in what it takes, and what it gives;
The joy unequal'd, if its end it gain;315
And if it lose, attended with no pain;
Without satiety, tho' e'er so bless'd,
And but more relish'd as the more distress'd:
The broadest mirth unfeeling folly wears,
Less pleasing far than virtue's very tears.320
Good from each object, from each place acquir'd,
For ever exercis'd, yet never tir'd;
Never elated while one man's oppress'd;
Never dejected while another's bless'd;
And where no wants, no wishes can remain,325
Since but to wish more virtue, is to gain.
See! the sole bliss heav'n could on all bestow;
Which who but feels can taste, but thinks can know;
Yet poor with fortune, and with learning blind,
The bad must miss; the good, untaught, will find:
Slave to no sect, who takes no private road,331
But looks thro' nature up to nature's God;
Pursues
