Adversity from the French
FROM THE FRENCH
From the same parent, issuing at a birth,
Two different beings tread this changeful earth;
The one call'd Happiness, to whom was given,
With liberal hand, each fairer boon of heaven;
But, from his youth, defrauded of his due,
No kind, no lenient care Misfortune knew,
Till soften'd by his wrongs, the sacred powers
Bade Hermes soothe to milder grief his hours.
He placed Humanity for ever near,
And the sweet pleasures of the social tear;
Taught Love, with tender Amity to join,
And bade them heal his griefs with skill divine.
His are the sweets a humbled heart can prize,
His, every charm that solitude supplies,
When the thick shade its dusky umbrage throws,
In tenderest sounds he loves to breathe his woes;
For him kind nature wraps in gloom the day,
For him the fountain murmuring steals away;
Averse to giddy joy, in anguish blest,
He cherishes the tears that bathe his breast.
No murmurs shall arraign the powers divine,
That made this keener sense of misery mine:
Untaught by this, I ne'er had learnt to prove,
Th' endearing transports of a mutual love:
By worldly hopes each dearer joy supprest,
The love of wealth had harden'd all my breast.
The mind subdu'd, averse to empty fame,
Heeds not the dazzling lustre of a name;
Applause displeases, grandeurs but oppress
The happy favorite of severe distress;
And love's pure flame, and friendship's sacred glow,
Beam brightest far with those who deepest taste of woe.
FROM THE FRENCH
From the same parent, issuing at a birth,
Two different beings tread this changeful earth;
The one call'd Happiness, to whom was given,
With liberal hand, each fairer boon of heaven;
But, from his youth, defrauded of his due,
No kind, no lenient care Misfortune knew,
Till soften'd by his wrongs, the sacred powers
Bade Hermes soothe to milder grief his hours.
He placed Humanity for ever near,
And the sweet pleasures of the social tear;
Taught Love, with tender Amity to join,
And bade them heal his griefs with skill divine.
His are the sweets a humbled heart can prize,
His, every charm that solitude supplies,
When the thick shade its dusky umbrage throws,
In tenderest sounds he loves to breathe his woes;
For him kind nature wraps in gloom the day,
For him the fountain murmuring steals away;
Averse to giddy joy, in anguish blest,
He cherishes the tears that bathe his breast.
No murmurs shall arraign the powers divine,
That made this keener sense of misery mine:
Untaught by this, I ne'er had learnt to prove,
Th' endearing transports of a mutual love:
By worldly hopes each dearer joy supprest,
The love of wealth had harden'd all my breast.
The mind subdu'd, averse to empty fame,
Heeds not the dazzling lustre of a name;
Applause displeases, grandeurs but oppress
The happy favorite of severe distress;
And love's pure flame, and friendship's sacred glow,
Beam brightest far with those who deepest taste of woe.
From the same parent, issuing at a birth,
Two different beings tread this changeful earth;
The one call'd Happiness, to whom was given,
With liberal hand, each fairer boon of heaven;
But, from his youth, defrauded of his due,
No kind, no lenient care Misfortune knew,
Till soften'd by his wrongs, the sacred powers
Bade Hermes soothe to milder grief his hours.
He placed Humanity for ever near,
And the sweet pleasures of the social tear;
Taught Love, with tender Amity to join,
And bade them heal his griefs with skill divine.
His are the sweets a humbled heart can prize,
His, every charm that solitude supplies,
When the thick shade its dusky umbrage throws,
In tenderest sounds he loves to breathe his woes;
For him kind nature wraps in gloom the day,
For him the fountain murmuring steals away;
Averse to giddy joy, in anguish blest,
He cherishes the tears that bathe his breast.
No murmurs shall arraign the powers divine,
That made this keener sense of misery mine:
Untaught by this, I ne'er had learnt to prove,
Th' endearing transports of a mutual love:
By worldly hopes each dearer joy supprest,
The love of wealth had harden'd all my breast.
The mind subdu'd, averse to empty fame,
Heeds not the dazzling lustre of a name;
Applause displeases, grandeurs but oppress
The happy favorite of severe distress;
And love's pure flame, and friendship's sacred glow,
Beam brightest far with those who deepest taste of woe.
FROM THE FRENCH
From the same parent, issuing at a birth,
Two different beings tread this changeful earth;
The one call'd Happiness, to whom was given,
With liberal hand, each fairer boon of heaven;
But, from his youth, defrauded of his due,
No kind, no lenient care Misfortune knew,
Till soften'd by his wrongs, the sacred powers
Bade Hermes soothe to milder grief his hours.
He placed Humanity for ever near,
And the sweet pleasures of the social tear;
Taught Love, with tender Amity to join,
And bade them heal his griefs with skill divine.
His are the sweets a humbled heart can prize,
His, every charm that solitude supplies,
When the thick shade its dusky umbrage throws,
In tenderest sounds he loves to breathe his woes;
For him kind nature wraps in gloom the day,
For him the fountain murmuring steals away;
Averse to giddy joy, in anguish blest,
He cherishes the tears that bathe his breast.
No murmurs shall arraign the powers divine,
That made this keener sense of misery mine:
Untaught by this, I ne'er had learnt to prove,
Th' endearing transports of a mutual love:
By worldly hopes each dearer joy supprest,
The love of wealth had harden'd all my breast.
The mind subdu'd, averse to empty fame,
Heeds not the dazzling lustre of a name;
Applause displeases, grandeurs but oppress
The happy favorite of severe distress;
And love's pure flame, and friendship's sacred glow,
Beam brightest far with those who deepest taste of woe.
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