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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Vanity of Human Wishes (excerpts)</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">1 Let observation with extensive view, <br>2 Survey mankind, from China to Peru;<br>3 Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife,<br>4 And watch the busy scenes of crowded life;<br>5 Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate,<br>6 O'erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate,<br>7 Where wav'ring man, betray'd by vent'rous pride<br>8 To tread the dreary paths without a guide,<br>9 As treach'rous phantoms in the mist delude,<br>10 Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good.<br>11 How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice,<br>12 Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant voice,<br>13 How nations sink, by darling schemes oppress'd,<br>14 When vengeance listens to the fool's request.<br>15 Fate wings with ev'ry wish th' afflictive dart,<br>16 Each gift of nature, and each grace of art,<br>17 With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,<br>18 With fatal sweetness elocution flows,<br>19 Impeachment stops the speaker's pow'rful breath,<br>20 And restless fire precipitates on death.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">21 But scarce observ'd the knowing and the bold,<br>22 Fall in the gen'ral massacre of gold;<br>23 Wide-wasting pest! that rages unconfin'd,<br>24 And crowds with crimes the records of mankind,<br>25 For gold his sword the hireling ruffian draws,<br>26 For gold the hireling judge distorts the laws;<br>27 Wealth heap'd on wealth, nor truth nor safety buys,<br>28 The dangers gather as the treasures rise.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">29 Let hist'ry tell where rival kings command,<br>30 And dubious title shakes the madded land,<br>31 When statutes glean the refuse of the sword,<br>32 How much more safe the vassal than the lord,<br>33 Low sculks the hind beneath the rage of pow'r,<br>34 And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tow'r,<br>35 Untouch'd his cottage, and his slumbers sound,<br>36 Tho' confiscation's vultures hover round.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">37 The needy traveller, serene and gay,<br>38 Walks the wild heath, and sings his toil away.<br>39 Does envy seize thee? crush th' upbraiding joy,<br>40 Increase his riches and his peace destroy,<br>41 New fears in dire vicissitude invade,<br>42 The rustling brake alarms, and quiv'ring shade,<br>43 Nor light nor darkness bring his pain relief.<br>44 One shews the plunder, and one hides the thief.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">45 Yet still one gen'ral cry the skies assails,<br>46 And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales,<br>47 Few know the toiling statesman's fear or care,<br>48 Th' insidious rival and the gaping heir.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">49 Once more, Democritus, arise on earth,<br>50 With cheerful wisdom and instructive mirth,<br>51 See motley life in modern trappings dress'd,<br>52 And feed with varied fools th' eternal jest:<br>53 Thou who couldst laugh where want enchain'd caprice,<br>54 Toil crush'd conceit, and man was of a piece;<br>55 Where wealth unlov'd without a mourner died;<br>56 And scarce a sycophant was fed by pride;<br>57 Where ne'er was known the form of mock debate,<br>58 Or seen a new-made mayor's unwieldy state;<br>59 Where change of fav'rites made no change of laws,<br>60 And senates heard before they judg'd a cause;<br>61 How wouldst thou shake at Britain's modish tribe,<br>62 Dart the quick taunt, and edge the piercing gibe?<br>63 Attentive truth and nature to decry,<br>64 And pierce each scene with philosophic eye.<br>65 To thee were solemn toys or empty show,<br>66 The robes of pleasure and the veils of woe:<br>67 All aid the farce, and all thy mirth maintain,<br>68 Whose joys are causeless, or whose griefs are vain.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">69 Such was the scorn that fill'd the sage's mind,<br>70 Renew'd at ev'ry glance on humankind;<br>71 How just that scorn ere yet thy voice declare,<br>72 Search every state, and canvas ev'ry pray'r.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">73 Unnumber'd suppliants crowd Preferment's gate,<br>74 Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great;<br>75 Delusive Fortune hears th' incessant call,<br>76 They mount, they shine, evaporate, and fall.<br>77 On ev'ry stage the foes of peace attend,<br>78 Hate dogs their flight, and insult mocks their end.<br>79 Love ends with hope, the sinking statesman's door<br>80 Pours in the morning worshiper no more;<br>81 For growing names the weekly scribbler lies,<br>82 To growing wealth the dedicator flies,<br>83 From every room descends the painted face,<br>84 That hung the bright Palladium of the place,<br>85 And smok'd in kitchens, or in auctions sold,<br>86 To better features yields the frame of gold;<br>87 For now no more we trace in ev'ry line<br>88 Heroic worth, benevolence divine:<br>89 The form distorted justifies the fall,<br>90 And detestation rids th' indignant wall.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">...</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">133 When first the college rolls receive his name,<br>134 The young enthusiast quits his ease for fame;<br>135 Through all his veins the fever of renown<br>136 Spreads from the strong contagion of the gown;<br>137 O'er Bodley's dome his future labours spread,<br>138 And Bacon's mansion trembles o'er his head.<br>139 Are these thy views? proceed, illustrious youth,<br>140 And virtue guard thee to the throne of Truth!<br>141 Yet should thy soul indulge the gen'rous heat,<br>142 Till captive Science yields her last retreat;<br>143 Should Reason guide thee with her brightest ray,<br>144 And pour on misty Doubt resistless day;<br>145 Should no false Kindness lure to loose delight,<br>146 Nor Praise relax, nor Difficulty fright;<br>147 Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain,<br>148 And Sloth effuse her opiate fumes in vain;<br>149 Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart,<br>150 Nor claim the triumph of a letter'd heart;<br>151 Should no disease thy torpid veins invade,<br>152 Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy shade;<br>153 Yet hope not life from grief or danger free,<br>154 Nor think the doom of man revers'd for thee:<br>155 Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes,<br>156 And pause awhile from letters, to be wise;<br>157 There mark what ills the scholar's life assail,<br>158 Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.<br>159 See nations slowly wise, and meanly just,<br>160 To buried merit raise the tardy bust.<br>161 If dreams yet flatter, once again attend,<br>162 Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">163 Nor deem, when learning her last prize bestows<br>164 The glitt'ring eminence exempt from foes;<br>165 See when the vulgar 'scape, despis'd or aw'd,<br>166 Rebellion's vengeful talons seize on Laud.<br>167 From meaner minds, tho' smaller fines content<br>168 The plunder'd palace or sequester'd rent;<br>169 Mark'd out by dangerous parts he meets the shock,<br>170 And fatal Learning leads him to the block:<br>171 Around his tomb let Art and Genius weep,<br>172 But hear his death, ye blockheads, hear and sleep. </a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">... </a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">253 Enlarge my life with multitude of days,<br>254 In health, in sickness, thus the suppliant prays;<br>255 Hides from himself his state, and shuns to know,<br>256 That life protracted is protracted woe.<br>257 Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy,<br>258 And shuts up all the passages of joy:<br>259 In vain their gifts the bounteous seasons pour,<br>260 The fruit autumnal, and the vernal flow'r,<br>261 With listless eyes the dotard views the store,<br>262 He views, and wonders that they please no more;<br>263 Now pall the tasteless meats, and joyless wines,<br>264 And Luxury with sighs her slave resigns.<br>265 Approach, ye minstrels, try the soothing strain,<br>266 And yield the tuneful lenitives of pain:<br>267 No sounds alas would touch th' impervious ear,<br>268 Though dancing mountains witness'd Orpheus near;<br>269 Nor lute nor lyre his feeble pow'rs attend,<br>270 Nor sweeter music of a virtuous friend,<br>271 But everlasting dictates crowd his tongue,<br>272 Perversely grave, or positively wrong.<br>273 The still returning tale, and ling'ring jest,<br>274 Perplex the fawning niece and pamper'd guest,<br>275 While growing hopes scarce awe the gath'ring sneer,<br>276 And scarce a legacy can bribe to hear;<br>277 The watchful guests still hint the last offence,<br>278 The daughter's petulance, the son's expense,<br>279 Improve his heady rage with treach'rous skill,<br>280 And mould his passions till they make his will.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">281 Unnumber'd maladies his joints invade,<br>282 Lay siege to life and press the dire blockade;<br>283 But unextinguish'd Av'rice still remains,<br>284 And dreaded losses aggravate his pains;<br>285 He turns, with anxious heart and crippled hands,<br>286 His bonds of debt, and mortgages of lands;<br>287 Or views his coffers with suspicious eyes,<br>288 Unlocks his gold, and counts it till he dies.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">289 But grant, the virtues of a temp'rate prime<br>290 Bless with an age exempt from scorn or crime;<br>291 An age that melts in unperceiv'd decay,<br>292 And glides in modest innocence away;<br>293 Whose peaceful day Benevolence endears,<br>294 Whose night congratulating Conscience cheers;<br>295 The gen'ral fav'rite as the gen'ral friend:<br>296 Such age there is, and who could wish its end?</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">297 Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings,<br>298 To press the weary minutes' flagging wings:<br>299 New sorrow rises as the day returns,<br>300 A sister sickens, or a daughter mourns.<br>301 Now kindred Merit fills the sable bier,<br>302 Now lacerated Friendship claims a tear.<br>303 Year chases year, decay pursues decay,<br>304 Still drops some joy from with'ring life away;<br>305 New forms arise, and diff'rent views engage,<br>306 Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage,<br>307 Till pitying Nature signs the last release,<br>308 And bids afflicted worth retire to peace.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">309 But few there are whom hours like these await,<br>310 Who set unclouded in the gulfs of fate.<br>311 From Lydia's monarch should the search descend,<br>312 By Solon caution'd to regard his end,<br>313 In life's last scene what prodigies surprise,<br>314 Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise?<br>315 From Marlb'rough's eyes the streams of dotage flow,<br>316 And Swift expires a driv'ler and a show.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">317 The teeming mother, anxious for her race,<br>318 Begs for each birth the fortune of a face:<br>319 Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring;<br>320 And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king.<br>321 Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,<br>322 Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be wise,<br>323 Whom Joys with soft varieties invite,<br>324 By day the frolic, and the dance by night,<br>325 Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,<br>326 And ask the latest fashion of the heart,<br>327 What care, what rules your heedless charms shall save,<br>328 Each nymph your rival, and each youth your slave?<br>329 Against your fame with fondness hate combines,<br>330 The rival batters and the lover mines.<br>331 With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,<br>332 Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls;<br>333 Tir'd with contempt, she quits the slipp'ry reign,<br>334 And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain.<br>335 In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,<br>336 The harmless freedom, and the private friend.<br>337 The guardians yield, by force superior plied;<br>338 By Int'rest, Prudence; and by Flatt'ry, Pride.<br>339 Now Beauty falls betray'd, despis'd, distress'd,<br>340 And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><a href="http://www.citatepedia.com/comments.php?id=512705" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none">341 Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find?<br>342 Must dull Suspense corrupt the stagnant mind?<br>343 Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,<br>344 Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?<br>345 Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,<br>346 No cries attempt the mercies of the skies?<br>347 Enquirer, cease, petitions yet remain,<br>348 Which Heav'n may hear, nor deem religion vain.<br>349 Still raise for good the supplicating voice,<br>350 But leave to Heav'n the measure and the choice.<br>351 Safe in his pow'r, whose eyes discern afar<br>352 The secret ambush of a specious pray'r.<br>353 Implore his aid, in his decisions rest,<br>354 Secure whate'er he gives, he gives the best.<br>355 Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires,<br>356 And strong devotion to the skies aspires,<br>357 Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,<br>358 Obedient passions, and a will resign'd;<br>359 For love, which scarce collective man can fill;<br>360 For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill;<br>361 For faith, that panting for a happier seat,<br>362 Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat:<br>363 These goods for man the laws of Heav'n ordain,<br>364 These goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to gain;<br>365 With these celestial wisdom calms the mind,<br>366 And makes the happiness she does not find.</a></div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><a href="http://poems.citatepedia.com/">poem</a> by <strong><a rel="author" href="http://authors.citatepedia.com/by.php?a=Samuel+Johnson">Samuel Johnson</a></strong></div>