Page:Caledonia (Defoe).djvu/32

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Thy lengthen'd Sun with uncooth Joy ſurvey,
And vainly dream'd it led to bright Eternal Day:
Unbleſſ'd with Art, yet from thy Ocean fly,
Afraid to live, becauſe afraid to die.
To them thy Wealth and Stores were unreveal'd,
And all beyond thee happily conceal'd.
Had they thy Scally Shoals of Bleſſings known,
They'd long ſince choſe thy Shores, and quite ſorgot their own.
Thine had been India, and thy Golden Seas
Had fill'd their Antique Songs.

But Fear, that Negative of Glory, gave
This Gift appropriat to a Race more brave.
The frighted South-taught Navigators fly,
And mock'd with Fear, their own Succeſs deſtroy.
Unpractiſ'd in thy watry Wars, they ſhun
Thy ſafer Coaſt, and at a Diſtance run.

Thy Seas, tho vaſt, and in Extent unknown,
In Wealth and Strength to Thee [1] ſubſervient grown.
Calm Tides, ſmooth Surface, and a ſhining Brow,
And gentle Gales for Wealth and Commerce blow.
Theſe reconcile the once ſo dreadful Waſte,
And Art and Induſtry ſupply the reſt.

[2] Hail Science, Natures ſecond Eye,
Begot on Reaſon by Philoſophy,

Mans Telleſcope to all that's Deep and High;

  1. The Seas indeed in these parts are subject to Storms, but nothing unusual, or uncommon with the rest of Brittain.
  2. This is a Poetical Excursion upon the extraordinary Improvement and Perfection which the World has attain'd in the practical part of Navigation.