All Night the Sage in Pensive Tumults lay,
Complaining of the slow Approach of Day;
Oft turn'd him round, and strove to think no more,
Of what shrill Colon said the Day before.
Cowslips and Poppies o're his Eyes he spread,
And S-Works he laid beneath his Head.
But those bless'd Opiats still in vain he tries,
Sleep's gentle Image his Embraces flies.
Tumultuous Cares lay rolling in his Breast,
And thus his anxious Thoughts the Sage exprest.
Oft has this Planet roll'd around the Sun,
Since to consult the Skies I first begun:
Such my Applause, so mighty my Success.
Some granted my Predictions more than Guess.
But, doubtful as I am, I'll entertain
This Faith, There can be no Mistake in Gain.
For the dull World most Honour pay to those
Who on their Understanding most impose.
2 approach 2-4 4 spoke 1-4. 6 5 o'er 2-3 6 S-nd's S-d's 2-3 Sloane's Wi 7 But all those Opiats still in vain he tries, Opiates 119 rouling 2-4 10 express'd. 1-4 11 The Earth has roul'd twelve annual turns, and more, ' || roul'd 2———4 12 Since first high Heav'ns bright Orbs I've number'd o're. 1 || Skies, 1-4.6 13 Success,1-4 14 Some granted ] I once thought 1-4. 6 | Guess 1-4 17 must 9. 11. Wi
First Man creates, and then he fears the Elf,
Thus others cheat him not but he himself:
He loaths the Substance and he loves the Show;
You'll ne'er convince a Fool, Himself is so:
He hates Reallities, and hugs the Cheat,
And still the only Pleasure's the Deceit.
So Meteors flatter with a dazling Dye
Which no Existence has, but in the Eye.
At distance Prospects please us, but when near,
We find but desart Rocks, and fleeting Air.
From Stratagem to Stratagem we run,
And he knows most, who latest is undone.
Mankind one Day serene and free appear;
The next, they 're cloudy, sullen, and severe :
New Passions, new Opinions still excite,
And what they like at Noon, they leave at Night:
They gain with Labour, what they quit with Ease,
And Health, for want of Change, becomes Disease.
Religion's bright Authority they dare,
And yet are Slaves to Superstitious Fear.
They Counsel others, but themselves Deceive,
And tho' they're Cozen'd still, they still Believe.
So proud of Praise, for That their Ease they flight
Yet never think the Rabble in the right.
Thus Priests their Pagan Gods profanely mock;
And know that Sacrifice is only Smoke.
They find, if some great Enterprise they view,
Oft more to Folly, than to Prudence due.
20 not, 1-4. 6
21 Substance, 1-4. 6 || Show, 1-4
hardly] e're to convince a Fool, He's so:
24 And still the Pleasure lies in the Deceit. 1-8 27 Prospects at distance please, but when we're near, 1 || At distance ] As distant W1 29 Stratagem, 30 most 2-4 31 day 1-4 34 they leave ] des
pise 1-4 36 Health || Change || becomes ] grows a sel 1.6 Councel 2-4 1-4 || deceive, 40 believe 1—4 41-58 fehlen in 1-6; ebenso in 11. W1 mit Ausnahme der VV. 49-50.
Garth-Leicht, Dispensary.
Or if some matchless Conduct shou'd appear,
They call the Valour, Heat; the Caution, Fear.
So false their Censure, fickle their Esteem,
This Hour they Worship; and the next Blaspheme.
Tho' honour'd as some God a Heroe shines,
And Valour executes what Skill designs;
Tho' rescu'd Nations their Deliv'rance own,
And Monarchs sit unshaken on a Throne,
Whilst proud Oppressors their vain Hopes give o'er,
And tremble at the Chains They forg'd before;
Yet if th' amazing Issue we survey,
We find that Fame has Wings, and flies away.
Shall I then, who with penetrating Sight
Inspect the Springs that guide each Appetite:
Who with unfathom'd Searches hourly pierce
The dark Recesses of the Universe,
Be aw'd, if puny Emmets wou'd oppress;
Or fear their Fury, or their Name caress?
If all the Fiends that in low Darkness reign,
Be not the Fictions of a sickly Brain,
That Project, the Dispensary they call,
Before the Moon can blunt her Horns, shall fall.
With that, a Glance from mild Aurora's Eyes,
Shoots thro' the Crystal Kingdoms of the Skies;
The Savage Kind in Forests cease to roam,
And Sots o'ercharg'd with nauseous Loads reel home.
Drums, Trumpets, Hautboys wake the slumbring Pair;
Whilst Bridegroom sighs, and thinks the Bride less fair.
Light's chearful Smiles o'er th' Azure Waste are spread, 75
And Miss from Inns o' Court bolts out unpaid.
* Medicines made up there, for the use of the Poor.
63-64 Be Passive, whilst the Faculty pretend
Our Charter with unhallow'd Hands to rend? 1-4. 6
1-4 67 Die Note steht in 1-4 zwischen V. 67 und 68
73-74 fehlen in 1-1. 6
The Sage transported at th' approaching Hour,
Imperiously thrice thunder'd on the Floor;
Officious Squirt that Moment had access,
His Trust was great, his Vigilance no less.
To him thus Horoscope,
My kind Companion in this dire Affair,
Which is more light, since you assume a Share;
Fly with what haste you us'd to do of old,
When Clyster was in danger to be cold:
With Expedition on the Beadle call,
To summon all the Company to th' Hall.
Away the friendly Coadjutor flies,
Swift as from Phyal Steams of Harts-horn rise.
The Magus in the int'rim mumbles o'er
Vile Terms of Art to some Infernal Pow'r,
And draws Mysterious Circles on the Floor.
But from the gloomy Vault no glaring Spright
Ascends, to blast the tender Bloom of Light.
No mystick Sounds from Hell's detested Womb,
In dusky Exhalations upwards come.
And now to raise an Altar He decrees,
To that devouring Harpy call'd Disease.
Then Flow'rs in Canisters he hastes to bring,
The wither'd Product of a blighted Spring.
With cold Solanum from the Pontick Shore,
The Roots of Mandrake and Black Ellebore,
The Griper Senna, and the Puker Rue,
The Sweetner Sassafras are added too;
81 Horoscope. 1-4 83 Light, 1-4
Druckfehler || you ] thou1 86 call 2
hies, 89 Steam 1-4 || flies 1-4
98 Disease; 2-4 100 Spring, 1—4
in 1-4. 6
88 friendly 93 Spright, 1-4 102 Ellebore. 1—4
84 hast 1-4 trusty 1-4. 6 I 94 Ascends 1—4 103-104 fehlen
And on the Structure next he heaps a load
Of Sulphur, Turpentine and Mastick Wood:
Gums, Fossiles too the Pyramid increas'd,
A Mummy next, once Monarch of the East.
Then from the Compter he takes down the File,
And with Prescriptions lights the solemn Pile.
Feebly the Flames on clumsie Wings aspire,
And smoth'ring Fogs of Smoke benight the Fire.
With Sorrow he beheld the sad Portent,
Then to the Hag these Orizons he sent.
Disease! thou ever most propitious Pow'r,
Whose kind Indulgence we discern each Hour;
Thou well canst boast thy num'rous Pedigree
Begot by Sloth, maintain'd by Luxury.
In gilded Palaces thy Prowess reigns,
But flies the humble Sheds of Cottage Swains.
To You such Might and Energy belong,
You nip the Blooming, and unnerve the Strong.
The Purple Conqueror in Chains you bind,
And are to us your Vassals only kind.
If, in return, all Diligence we pay
To fix your Empire, and confirm your Sway,
Far as the weekly Bills can reach around,
From Kent-street end to fam'd St. Giles's-Pound;
Behold this poor Libation with a Smile,
And let auspicious Light break through the Pile.
106 Of Sassafras in Chips, and Mastick Wood.1—4. 6 112 smouldring1 116 kind
105 Load 2-4. 6
107-108 fehlen in 1—4. 6
Indulgencies | discern
soft 1-4 perceive taste 117-124 fehlen in 1-1. W1, statt dessen hier (in W1 als Anm. zu V. 116 unter
Thou that wou'dst lay whole States and Regions waste,
Sooner than we thy Cormorants shou'd fast;
125 Neuer Abschnitt 1-4 126 To fix] T'extend 1
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