In falling out with that or this,
And finding somewhat still amiss;
More peevish, cross, and splenetic,
Than dog distract, or monkey sick;
That with more care keep holiday
The wrong, than others the right way;
Compound for sins they are inclin'd to,
By damning those they have no mind to;
Still so perverse and opposite,
As if they worshipp'd God for spite;
The self-same thing they will abhor
and long another for.
Good name, in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls;
Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he, that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that, which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
RESOLUTIONS. (Vanity of Man's)
Of man's miraculous mistakes, this bears
The palm, "that all men are about to live."
For ever on the brink of being born:
All pay themselves the compliment to think
They, one day, shall not drivel; and their pride
On this reversion takes up ready praise.-
At thirty man suspects himself a fool;
Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan;
At fifty chides his infamous delay,
Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve;
In all the magnanimity of thought
Resolves; and re-resolves; then dies the same.
RESPECT. (Lost, by being too Familiar)
The skipping king, he ambled up and down With shallow jesters, and rash bavin wits, Soon kindled, and soon burn'd: carded his state; Mingled his royalty with capering fools? Had his great name profaned with their scorns, And gave his countenance against his name, To laugh at gibing boys, and stand the push Of every beardless vain comparative : Grew a companion to the common streets.
RETIREMENT. (General Wish for)
Hackney'd in business, wearied at that oar,
Which thousands, once fast chain'd to, quit no more,
But which, when life at ebb runs weak and low,
All wish, or seem to wish, they could forego;
The statesman, lawyer, merchant, man of trade,
Pants for the refuge of some rural shade,
Where, all his long anxieties forgot
Amid the charms of a sequester'd spot,
Or recollected only to gild o'er,
And add a smile to what was sweet before,
He may possess the joys he thinks he sees,
Lay his old age upon the lap of ease,
Improve the remnant of his wasted span,
And, having liv'd a trifler, die a man.
RETREAT. (From the World)
Blest be that hand divine, which gently laid My heart at rest beneath this humble shed! The world's a stately bark, on dangerous seas, With pleasures seen, but boarded at our peril ; Here, on a single plank, thrown safe ashore,
I hear the tumult of the distant throng,
As that of seas remote, or dying storms;
And meditate on scenes, more silent still.-
Why all this toil for triumphs of an hour?
What, though we wade in wealth, or soar in fame ?
Earth's highest station ends in "here he lies,"
And" dust to dust" concludes her noblest song.
If this song lives, posterity shall know
One, though in Britain born, with courtiers bred,
Who thought even gold might come a day too late ;
Nor on his subtle death-bed plann'd his scheme
For future vacancies in church, or state;
Some avocation deeming it-to die;
Unbit by rage canine of dying rich;
Guilt's blunder! and the loudest laugh of hell.
RHETORIC. (Hudibras, his)
For rhetoric, he could not ope
His mouth, but out there flew a trope:
And when he happen'd to break off
I' th' middle of his speech, or cough,
H' had hard words ready to show why,
And tell what rules he did it by;
Else when with greatest art he spoke,
You'd think he talk'd like other folk;
For all a rhetorician's rules
Teach nothing but to name his tools.
But, when he pleas'd to shew't, his speech,
In loftiness of sound, was rich;
A Babylonish dialect,
Which learned pedants much affect;
It was a party-colour'd dress
Of patch'd and piebald languages;
'Twas English cut on Greek and Latin,
Like fustian heretofore on satin;
It had an old promiscuous tone,
As if h' had talk'd three parts in one;
Which made some think, when he did gabble,
Th' had heard three labourers of Babel,
Or Cerberus himself pronounce
A leash of languages at once.
RHYMERS. (Feelings excited by)
Marry, and I am glad of it with all my heart;
I had rather be a kitten, and cry-mew,
Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers:
I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd,
Or a dry wheel grate on an axletree;
And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry;
'Tis like the forc'd gait of a shuffling nag.
RICHARD. (King, his Character)
Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy;
Thy school-days, frightful, desperate, wild, and furious;
Thy prime of manhood, daring, bold, and ventu
Thy age confirm'd, proud, subtle, sly, and bloody.
Riches are oft by guilt and baseness earn'd;
Or dealt by chance, to shield a lucky knave,
Or throw a cruel sun-shine on a fool.
But for one end, one much-neglected use,
Are riches worth your care, (for nature's wants
Are few, and without opulence supplied):
This noble end is, to produce the soul;
To show the virtues in the fairest light;
To make humanity the minister
Of bounteous Providence: and teach the breast
That gen'rous luxury the gods enjoy.
RIGHT. (Whatever is, is Right)
Cease then, nor order imperfections name:
Our proper bliss depends on what we blame.
Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heaven bestows on thee.
Submit-in this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear :
Safe in the hand of one disposing pow'r,
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.
All nature is but art unknown to thee;
All chance, direction which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good:
And spite of pride, in erring reason's spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.
ROMANCE. (General Character of)
A thousand visions float around my head:
Hark! hollow blasts through empty courts resound,
And shadowy forms with staring eyes stalk round!
See! moats and bridges, walls and castles rise,
Ghosts, fairies, demons, dance before our eyes;
Lo! magic verse inscrib'd on golden gate,
And bloody hand that beckons on to fate:
"And who art thou, thou little page, unfold?
Say, doth thy lord my Claribel withhold;
Go tell him straight, Sir Knight, thou must resign
The captive queen ;-for Claribel is mine."
Away he flies; and now for bloody deeds,
Black suits of armour, masks, and foaming steeds :
The giant falls; his recreant throat I seize,
And from his corslet take the massy keys:
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