Or pining Love shall waste their youth, Or Jealousy with rankling tooth, That inly gnaws the secret heart, And Envy wan, and faded Care, Grim-visag’d, comfortless Despair, And Sorrow's piercing dart. Ambition this shall tempt to rise, Then whirl the wretch from high, To bitter Scorn a sacrifice, And grinning Infamy. The stings of Falsehood those shall try, And hard Unkindness alter'd eye, That mocks the tear it forc'd to flow, And keen Remorse with blood defil'd, And moody Madness laughing wild Amid severest woe. Lo, in the vale of years beneath A grisly troop are seen, The painful family of Death, More hideous than their queen: Those in the deeper vitals rage: And slow-consuming Age. To each his suff'rings: all are men, Condemn'd alike to groan, The tender for another's pain, Th' unfeeling for his own, Yet, ah! wby should they know their fate? Since Sorrow never comes too late, And Happiness too swiftly flies : Thought would destroy their paradise. No more: where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise. THE COUNTRY BOX, 1757. BY ROBERT LLOYD, A.M. The wealthy Cit, grown old in trade, And, as they slowly jog together, “What signify the loads of wealth, face- Sir Traffic's name so well apply'd Draws a few hundreds from the stocks, And purchases his Country Box. Some three or four miles out of town, (An hour's ride will bring you down) He fixes on his choice abode, Not half a furlong from the road; And so convenient does it lay, The stages pass it every day: And then so snug, so mighty pretty, To have a house so near the city! Take but your places at the Boar, You're set down at the very door. Well then, suppose them fix'd at last, White-washing, painting, scrubbing past, Hugging themselves in ease and clover, With all the fuss of moving over; Lo, a new heap of whims are bred, And wanton in my lady's head. “Well, to be sure, it must be own'd, It is a charming spot of ground; So sweet a distance for a ride, And all about so countryfied ! 'Twould come to but a trifling price To make it quite a paradise. I cannot bear those nasty rails, Those ugly, broken, mouldy pails : Suppose, my dear, instead of these, We build a sailing all Chinese: And, as they slowly jog together, “What signify the loads of wealth, Sir Traffic's name so well apply'd mmer season |