VI.

Not in the public walks of men
Can we possess our full desires;
Behold! to some sequster'd glen
Defeated Enterprize retires.
There Solitude, and quiet rest,
Shall drive Ambition from his breast;
Would it could drive remembrance too?
But all the wrongs of base mankind,
Engraven on the feeling mind,
Shall o'er his foul dissuse Misanthropy's sad hue.

VII.

Yon cottage fee. The mantling vine
O'er the white wall redundant strays:
Content! this residence is thine;
The rosy tenants chaunt thy praise.
Ah no! the honest rustick's joys,
Fatigue, and penury destroys,
He must the curse of Adam bear:
Through temperance shall his board controul,
Through moderation curb his foul,
The numerous wants of life shall waken constant care.

VIII.

Now let the Social Duties tell
Their pleasures. First, be Friendship heard.
Friendship! thy title is a spell
E'en to idolatry rever'd:
Sweet is the intercourse of mind,
When virtuous souls, alike refin'd,
One taste, one sentiment express;
Welcome is sympathy's warm glow
To the lone breast of frigid woe;
Welcome is counsel too to those whom doubts oppress.

IX.

Oh Friendship! thy enchanting strains
Have charm'd my ravish'd soul so long,
Fain would I banish all thy pains
Both from my mem'ry and my song,
So would thy ever during smile
My future task of life beguile.
Oh! let not time or mis'ry tire,
Let not reserv'd neglect appear,
The causeless, yet distracting fear,
The gloom of jealous doubt, or anger's sudden fire.

X.

It cannot be. The crime of Eve
With imperfection marks mankind.
Errors shall pain, and sorrows grieve,
And Friendship's strictest cord unbind.
The mother, who with high wrought joy,
Strains to her breast the wanton boy,
" Hope of her age, pride of her youth, "
May, when a few short years are o'er,
In bitterest agony deplore
" Filial ingratitude, worse than the serpent's tooth. "