POEMS. VERSES WRITTEN AT BATH, ON FINDING THE HEEL OF A SHOE, IN 1748. FORTUNE! I thank thee: gentle Goddess! thanks! Not that my Muse, tho' bashful, shall deny, She would have thank'd thee rather, hadst thou cast A treasure in her way; for neither meed Of early breakfast, to dispel the fumes, And bowel-raking pains of emptiness, Nathless she thanks thee, and accepts thy boon, Vain glorious fool! unknowing what he found, B Spurn'd the rich gem, thou gav'st him. Wherefore, ah! Why not on me that favour, (worthier sure!) Conferr'dst thou, Goddess! Thou art blind, thou say'st: Enough!-thy blindness shall excuse the deed. From this thy scant indulgence!—even here, The weighty tread of some rude peasant clown He, who could erst, with even, equal pace, Pursue his destin'd way with symmetry, And some proportion form'd, now, on one side, Of humble villager-the statesman thus, His prosp❜rous way; nor fears miscarriage foul, STANZAS SELECTED FROM AN OCCASIONAL ODE ON THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF SIR CHARLES GRANDISON, IN 1753. To rescue from the tyrant's sword Th' oppress'd;-unseen and unimplor'd, To cheer the face of wo; From lawless insult to defend An orphan's right—a fallen friend, These, these distinguish from the crowd, And these alone, the great and good, The guardians of mankind; Whose bosoms with these virtues heave, O, with what matchless speed, they leave The multitude behind! |