142

6.

It is fine

To stand upon some lofty mountain thought,
And feel the spirit stretch into a view.

7.

CONTEMPT-SCORN.

2.

3.

Within the deep,

Still chambers of the heart, a spectre dim,

CONTEMPT - SCORN.

1. Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her

BAILEY'S Festus.

Whose tones are like the wizard voice of Time,
Heard from the tombs of ages, points its cold
And solemn finger to the beautiful
And holy visions that have past away,
And left no shadow of their loveliness
On the dead waste of life.

GEORGE D. PRENTICE.

He hears

On all sides, from innumerable tongues,
A dismal, universal hiss, the sound
Of public scorn.

eyes.

SHAKSPEARE.

Infamous wretch !

So much below my scorn, I dare not kill thee!

DRYDEN.

MILTON'S Paradise Lost.

4. Derision shall strike thee forlorn,
A mock'ry that never shall die;
The curses of hate, and the hisses of scorn,
Shall burthen the winds of the sky;
And, proud o'er thy ruin, for ever be hurl'd,
The laughter of triumph, the jeers of the world.

5. Thou may'st from law, but not from scorn escape;
The pointed finger, cold, averted eye,
Insulted virtue's hiss-thou canst not fly.

BYRON.

CHARLES SPRAGUE.

6.

7.

Pardon is for men,

And not for reptiles-we have none for Steno,
And no resentment; things like him must sting,
And higher beings suffer; 't is the charter
Of life. The man, who dies by the adder's pang,
May have the crawler crush'd, but feels no anger:
"T was the worm's nature; and some men are worms
In soul, more than the living things of tombs.

BYRON'S Marino Faliero.

And would'st thou turn,

Like one contemn'd, to seek for more contempt!

CONTENTMENT-DISCONTENT.

1. O! who can lead, then, a more happy life,

Than he, that, with clean mind and heart sincere,
No greedy riches knows, nor bloody strife?

RUFUS DAWES.

3. Still falling out with this and this,
And finding something still amiss;
More peevish, cross, and splenetic
Than dog distract or monkey sick.

2. The remnant of his days he safely past,

Nor found they lagg'd too slow, nor flew too fast;
He made his wish with his estate comply,
Joyful to live, yet not afraid to die.

SPENSER.

4. Peace, brother, be not over-exquisite
To cast the fashion of uncertain evils;
For, grant they be so, while they rest unknown,
What need a man forestall his date of grief,
And run to meet what he would most avoid?

PRIOR.

BUTLER'S Hudibras.

MILTON'S Comus.

144

CONTENTMENT - DISCONTENT.

5. For who did ever yet, by honour, wealth,

Or pleasure of the sense, Contentment find?
Who ever ceas'd to wish, when he had health,
Or, having Wisdom, was not vex'd in mind?
DAVIES' Immortality of the Soul.

6. The lion crav'd the fox's art;
The fox the lion's force and heart;
The cock implor'd the pigeon's flight,
Whose wings were rapid, strong, and light;
The pigeon strength of wing despis'd,
And the cock's matchless valour priz'd.
The fishes wish'd to graze the plain;
The beasts to skim beneath the main.
Thus, envious of another's state,
Each blam'd the partial hand of fate.

7. Sour discontent, that quarrels with our fate,
May give fresh smart, but not the old abate;
The uneasy passion's disingenuous wit,
The ill reveals, but hides the benefit.

SIR R. BLACKMORE.

GAY's Fables.

8. He, fairly looking into life's account,

Saw frowns and favours were of like amount;
And viewing all-his perils, prospects, purse-
He said, "Content-'t is well it is no worse.

9. With careless eyes he views the proud,
In splendid robes profusely drest,
Nor heeds the dull, censorious crowd,
By fortune's fickle goddess blest.

10. What tho' on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hodden gray, and a' that?
Gie fools their silk, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that.

CRABBE.

Gentleman's Magazine.

BURNS.

11. And passing rich, with forty pounds a year. GOLDSMITH'S Deserted Village.

12. A country-lad is my degree,

And few there are that ken me, O;
But what care I how few they be?
I'm welcome to my Nannie, O.

BURNS.

13. We heeded not the cold blast, nor the winter's icy air, For we found our climate in the heart, and it was summer there.

J. R. DRAKE.

14. The feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only,
As the mist resembles rain.

H. W. LONGFELLOW.

15. O! dear is my cottage, unclouded by sorrow,
And sweet is the bower my Emeline wove;
Ah! nought from the gay or the wealthy I'd borrow,
While blest with the smile of contentment and love.
S. RICHARDS.

16. "Tis said that frail, inconstant man,
Is ne'er content with what he is:
Each thinks he can in others scan
A happiness more pure than his.

2.

CONVERSATION-LOQUACITY, &c.

1. What cracker is this same, that deafs our ears With this abundance of superfluous breath?

O, he's as tedious
As a tir'd horse, a railing wife;
Worse than a smoky chimney.

J. T. WATSON.

SHAKSPEARE.

SHAKSPEARE.

146

3.

CONVERSATION - LOQUACITY, &c.

Since brevity's the soul of wit,

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes-
I will be brief.

4. A flourish! trumpets!-strike alarums-drums! Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women Rail

6. Their copious stories, oftentimes begun, End without audience and are never done.

5. Few words shall fit the trespass best,
When no excuse can give the fault amending.

7. As 't is a greater mystery, in the art
Of painting, to foreshorten any part,
Than draw it out, so 't is, in books, the chief
Of all perfections to be plain and brief.

8. For brevity is very good,

When we are, or are not, understood.

9. But still his tongue ran on, the less
Of weight it had, with greater ease;
And, with its everlasting clack,
Set all men's ears upon the rack.

SHAKSPEARE.

11. But fools, to talking ever prone,

10. I never, with important air,
In conversation overbear;
My tongue within my lips I rein,
For who talks much must talk in vain.

SHAKSPEARE.

Are sure to make their follies known.

SHAKSPEARE.

BUTLER'S Hudibras.

SHAKSPEARE.

BUTLER.

BUTLER'S Hudibras.

GAY'S Fables.

GAY'S Fables.