TEXTS CHIEFLY ALLUDED TO IN BOOK I.

"The words of the Preacher the Son of David King of Jerufalem." Ecclefiaftes, Chap. i. ver. 1.

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"Vanity of vanities, fays the Preacher, vanity of “vanities, all is vanity.” Ver. 2.

"I communed with mine own heart, faying, Lo, I am "come to great estate, and have gotten more wif"dom than all they that have been before me in"Jerufalem: yea my heart had great experience of "wisdom and knowledge." Ver. 16.

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"He fpake of trees, from the Cedar-tree that is in "Lebanon, even unto the Hyffop that springeth out "of the wall: he fpake alfo of beafts, and of fowl, "and of creeping things, and of fishes." 1 Kings, chap. iv. ver. 33.

"I know, that whatsoever God doeth, it fhall be for "ever nothing can be put to it, nor any thing

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"taken from it; and God doeth it, that men fhould "fear before him." Ecclefiaftes, chap. iii. ver. 14. "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time : "alfo he hath fet the world in their heart, fo that no "man can find out the work that God maketh from "the beginning to the end." Ver. 11.

"For in much wifdom is much grief: and he that "increaseth knowledge, increaseth forrow." Chap i.

ver. 18.

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“And further, by thefe, my fon, be admonished: of making many books there is no end: and much ftudy is a wearinefs of the flesh." Chap. xii. ver. 12.

KNOW

KNOWLEDGE:

THE FIRST BOOK.

THE ARGUMENT.

Solomon, feeking happiness from knowledge, convenes the learned men of his kingdom; requires them to explain to him the various operations and effects of Nature; difcourfes of vegetables, animals, and man; proposes fome questions concerning the origin and fituation of the habitable earth; proceeds to examine the fyftem of the visible Heaven; doubts if there may not be a plurality of worlds; enquires into the nature of Spirits and Angels; and wishes to be more fully informed as to the attributes of the Supreme Being. He is imperfectly anfwered by the Rabbins and Doctors; blames his own curiofity; and concludes, that, as to Human Science, All is Vanity.

E Sons of Men, with juft regard attend,

YE

Obferve the Preacher, and believe the Friend,
Whose serious Mufe infpires him to explain,
That all we act, and all we think, is vain.
That, in this pilgrimage of seventy years,
O'er rocks of perils, and through vales of tears,

Deftin'd to march, our doubtful steps we tend,
Tir'd with the toil, yet fearful of its end.
That from the womb we take our fatal fhares
Of follies, paffions, labours, tumults, cares:
And, at approach of death, fhall only know
The truth, which from these penfive numbers flow,
That we purfue false joy, and fuffer real woe.
Happiness, object of that waking dream,
Which we call life, mistaking: fugitive theme
Of my pursuing verse, ideal shade,
Notional good, by fancy only made,
And by tradition nurs'd, fallacious fire,
Whofe dancing beams mislead our fond defire,
Caufe of our care, and error of our mind:
Oh! hadft thou ever been by Heaven defign'd
To Adam, and his mortal race; the boon
Entire had been referv'd for Solomon:
On me the partial lot had been bestow'd;
And in my cup the golden draught had flow'd.
But O! ere yet original man was made;
Ere the foundations of this earth were laid;
It was, opponent to our search, ordain'd,
That joy, ftill fought, should never be attain’d.
This fad experience cites me to reveal ;

And what I dictate is from what I feel.

Born as I was, great David's favourite son, Dear to my people, on the Hebrew throne, Sublime my court with Ophir's treasures bleft, My name extended to the fartheft east,

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My

My body cloath'd with every outward grace,.
Strength in my limbs, and beauty in my face,
My fhining thought with fruitful notions crown'd,
Quick my invention, and my judgement found:
Arife (I commun'd with myfelf) arise;

Think, to be happy; to be great, be wife:
Content of fpirit muft from science flow;

For 'tis a godlike attribute, to know.

I faid; and sent my edict through the land :
Around my throne the letter'd rabbins stand,
Hiftoric leaves revolve, long volumes spread,.
The old difcourfing as the younger read.

Attent I heard, propos'd my doubts, and said:
The Vegetable World, each plant and tree,
Its feed, its name, its nature, its degree,
I am allow'd,, as Fame reports, to know,
From the fair Cedar on the craggy brow.
Of Lebanon nodding fupremely tall,
To creeping Mofs and Hyffop on the wall:.
Yet, juft and confcious to myself, I find
A thousand.doubts oppose the fearching mind.
I know not why the Beach delights the glade
With boughs extended, and a rounder shade;
Whilft towering Firs in conic forms arise,
And with a pointed fpear divide the skies :.
Nor why again the changing Oak should shed
The yearly honour of his ftately head;
Whilft the diftinguish'd Yew is ever feen,
Unchang'd his branch, and perinanent his green..

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Wanting

Wanting the fun, why does the Caltha fade ?
Why does the Cypress flourish in the shade?
The Fig and Date, why love they to remain
In middle station, and an even plain;
While in the lower marfh the Gourd is found;
And while the hill with Olive-fhade is crown'd?
Why does one climate and one foil endue
The blufhing Poppy with a crimfon hue;

Yet leave the Lily pale, and tinge the Violet blue?
Why does the fond Carnation love to shoot

A various colour from one parent root;
While the fantaftic Tulip ftrives to break
In two-fold beauty, and a parted streak?
The twining Jafmine and the blufhing Rofe
With lavish grace their morning fcents difclofe:
The smelling Tuberofe and Junquil declare
The ftronger impulfe of an evening air.

Whence has the tree (refolve me) or the flower
A various instinct, or a different power?

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Why fhould one earth, one clime, one ftream, one breath, Raife this to ftrength, and ficken that to death?

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Whence does it happen, that the plant, which well We name the Senfitive, fhould move and feel? Whence know her leaves to answer her command, And with quick horror fly the neighbouring hand? Along the funny bank, or watery mead, Ten thousand stalks the various bloffoms spread Peaceful and lowly in their native foil, They neither know to fpin, nor care to toil;

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