Yet Reason frowns on War's unequal game,

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Where wasted nations raise a single name,

And mortgag'd states their grandsires' wreaths regret,
From age to age in everlasting debt;

Wreaths which at last the dear-bought right convey

To rust on medals, or on stones decay.

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On what foundation stands the warrior's pride, How just his hopes, let Swedish Charles decide: A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,

No dangers fright him, and no labours tire;
O'er love, o'er fear, extends his wide domain,
Unconquer'd lord of pleasure and of pain;
No joys to him pacific scepters yield,—

195

War sounds the trump, he rushes to the field;
Behold surrounding kings their pow'rs combine,
And one capitulate, and one resign:

Peace holds his hand, but spreads her charms in vain ;

66

Think nothing gain'd," he cries, till naught remain, "On Moscow's walls till Gothic standards fly,

200

66

And all be mine beneath the polar sky."

The march begins in military state,

205

And nations on his eye suspended wait;

Stern Famine guards the solitary coast,

And Winter barricades the realms of Frost:

He comes; nor want nor cold his course delay;—

Hide, blushing Glory, hide Pultowa's day:

210

The vanquish'd hero leaves his broken bands,
And shows his miseries in distant lands;
Condemn'd a needy supplicant to wait,
While ladies interpose and slaves debate.

But did not Chance at length her error mend?
Did no subverted empire mark his end?
Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound?
Or hostile millions press him to the ground?
His fall was destin'd to a barren strand,
A petty fortress, and a dubious hand.

He left the name, at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral, or adorn a tale.

All times their scenes of pompous woes afford,

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220

From Persia's tyrant to Bavaria's lord.

In gay hostility and barb'rous pride,
With half mankind embattled at his side,
Great Xerxes comes to seize the certain prey,
And starves exhausted regions in his way.
Attendant Flatt'ry counts his myriads o'er,
Till counted myriads soothe his pride no more;
Fresh praise is try'd till madness fires his mind,

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230

The waves he lashes, and enchains the wind;

New pow'rs are claim'd, new pow'rs are still bestowed,
Till rude resistance lops the spreading god.

The daring Greeks deride the martial show,

235

And heap their valleys with the gaudy foe.

Th' insulted sea with humbler thoughts he gains;

A single skiff to speed his flight remains;

And sees defenceless realms receive his sway:

Th' encumb'red oar scarce leaves the dreaded coast
Through purple billows and a floating host.
The bold Bavarian, in a luckless hour,
Tries the dread summits of Cæsarean pow'r,
With unexpected legions bursts away,

240

Short sway! -fair Austria spreads her mournful charms; 245

The queen, the beauty, sets the world in arms;
From hill to hill the beacon's rousing blaze
Spreads wide the hope of plunder and of praise;
The fierce Croatian and the wild Hussar,
With all the sons of ravage, crowd the war.

250

The baffled prince in honour's flatt'ring bloom

Of hasty greatness finds the fatal doom,
His foes' derision and his subjects' blame,

And steals to death from anguish and from shame. "Enlarge my life with multitude of days!"

255

In health, in sickness, thus the suppliant prays;

Hides from himself his state, and shuns to know,

That life protracted is protracted woe.

Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy,

And shuts up all the passages of joy:

260

In vain their gifts the bounteous seasons pour,
The fruit autumnal and the vernal flow'r;

With listless eyes the dotard views the store:
He views, and wonders that they please no more.
Now pall the tasteless meats and joyless wines,
And Luxury with sighs her slave resigns.
Approach, ye minstrels, try the soothing strain,
Diffuse the tuneful lenitives of pain:

265

No sounds, alas! would touch th' impervious ear,

Though dancing mountains witness'd Orpheus near;
Nor lute nor lyre his feeble pow'rs attend,

270

Nor sweeter musick of a virtuous friend;
But everlasting dictates crowd his tongue,
Perversely grave or positively wrong.

The daughter's petulance, the son's expense,
Improve his heady rage with treach'rous skill,
And mould his passions till they make his will.
Unnumber'd maladies his joints invade,

280

Lay siege to life, and press the dire blockade;

But unextinguish'd Av'rice still remains,

285

And dreaded losses aggravate his pains:

He turns, with anxious heart and crippled hands,

His bonds of debt and mortgages of lands;

Or views his coffers with suspicious eyes,
Unlocks his gold, and counts it till he dies.

290

But grant, the virtues of a temp'rate prime
Bless with an age exempt from scorn or crime;
An age that melts with unperceiv'd decay,
And glides in modest innocence away;
Whose peaceful day Benevolence endears,
Whose night congratulating Conscience cheers;
The gen'ral fav'rite as the gen'ral friend:
Such age there is, and who shall wish its end?
Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings,
To press the weary minutes' flagging wings;
New sorrow rises as the day returns,

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300

A sister sickens, or a daughter mourns.
Now kindred Merit fills the sable bier,
Now lacerated Friendship claims a tear.
Year chases year, decay pursues decay,
Still drops some joy from with'ring life away;
New forms arise, and diff'rent views engage,
Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage,
Till pitying Nature signs the last release,
And ids afflicted worth retire to peace.

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310

But few there are whom hours like these await,

Who set unclouded in the gulfs of Fate.

From Lydia's monarch should the search descend,
By Solon caution'd to regard his end,

In life's last scene what prodigies surprise

315

Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise!

From Marlb'rough's eyes the streams of dotage flow,

And Swift expires a driv'ler and a show.

The teeming mother, anxious for her race,

Begs for each birth the fortune of a face :

320

Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring;

And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king.
Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be wise;
Whom joys with soft varieties invite,

325

By day the frolick, and the dance by night;
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latest fashion of the heart,

What care, what rules, your heedless charms shall save,
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your slave?
Against your fame with fondness hate combines,
The rival batters, and the lover mines.
With distant voice neglected Virtue calls;
Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls:
Tir'd with contempt, she quits the slipp'ry reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,
The harmless freedom and the private friend.
The guardians yield, by force superior ply'd:
To Intrest, Prudence; and to Flatt'ry, Pride.

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335

340

Here Beauty falls betray'd, despis'd, distress'd,

And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.

Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find?

Must dull Suspense corrupt the stagnant mind?

Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,

Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?

345

Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,

No cries invoke the mercies of the skies?

Enquirer, cease; petitions yet remain,

Which heav'n may hear; nor deem religion vain.
Still raise for good the supplicating voice,

350

But leave to heav'n the measure and the choice;

Safe in his pow`r, whose eyes discern afar
The secret ambush of a specious pray'r.
Implore his aid, in his decisions rest,
Secure, whatev'r he gives, he gives the best.
Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies aspires,
Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient passions, and a will resign'd;

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360

For love, which scarce collective man can fill;
For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill;
For faith, that, panting for a happier seat,

Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat :

These goods for man the laws of heav'n ordain;

365

These goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to gain;

With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,

And makes the happiness she does not find.