Classic Poem

Adown the pretty purling stream
The little Loves may loll and dream;
And please, and prune themselves with care,
And fancy Virtue lodges there.
The soft Affections thus, and strong,
Adown life's current glide along;
And all-appeas'd and uncontroul'd,
Awhile their equal measure hold
Till sailing farther on the deep,
Or mounting Virtue's lofty steep,
The pretty system sinks away,
The little loves, and smiles decay.
Unnumber'd waves and storms we find
To raise—not to depress the mind,
The conscious mind, which dares endure,
And, sixt on Virtue, stands secure:
Nor shrinks, dismay'd, when danger's nigh,
Nor drops her aims beneath the sky.