80
Poems on
As the faint Traveller, when Night invades,
Sees a false Light relieve the ambient Shades,
Pleas'd he beholds the bright Delusion play,
But the false Guide shines only to betray:
Swift he pursues, yet still the Path mistakes,
O'er dangerous Marshes, or thro' thorny Brakes;
Yet obstinate in Wrong he toils to stray,
With many a weary Stride, o'er many a painful Way.
So Man pursues the Phantom of his Brain,
And buys his Disappointment with his Pain:
At length when Years invidiously destroy
The pow'r to taste the long-expected Joy,
Then Fortune envious sheds her Golden Show'rs,
Malignly smiles, and curses him with Stores.
Sees a false Light relieve the ambient Shades,
Pleas'd he beholds the bright Delusion play,
But the false Guide shines only to betray:
Swift he pursues, yet still the Path mistakes,
O'er dangerous Marshes, or thro' thorny Brakes;
Yet obstinate in Wrong he toils to stray,
With many a weary Stride, o'er many a painful Way.
So Man pursues the Phantom of his Brain,
And buys his Disappointment with his Pain:
At length when Years invidiously destroy
The pow'r to taste the long-expected Joy,
Then Fortune envious sheds her Golden Show'rs,
Malignly smiles, and curses him with Stores.
Thus o'er the Urns of Friends departed weep
The mournful Kindred, and fond Vigils keep;
The mournful Kindred, and fond Vigils keep;
Ambrosial
