The Project Gutenberg eBook, Proverbial Philosophy, by Martin F. Tupper This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Proverbial Philosophy The First and Second Series Author: Martin F. Tupper Release Date: September 27, 2015 [eBook #50064] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY*** E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Chris Pinfield, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Transcriber's Note. The captions of the illustrations do not include lines that form part of the poem or the titles of individual sections. These are reproduced in the poem itself. Illustrations embodying the initial letter of a stanza, that extend down and across the page, have been truncated so as to fit to the left of the stanza while retaining the initial letter. PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY. (THE FIRST AND SECOND SERIES.) BY MARTIN F. TUPPER, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., OF CHRISTCHURCH, OXFORD. ILLUSTRATED. A NEW EDITION. LONDON: EDWARD MOXON & CO., DOVER STREET. 1867. LONDON: BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. CONTENTS. FIRST SERIES. PAGE PREFATORY 1 THE WORDS OF WISDOM 4 OF TRUTH IN THINGS FALSE 8 OF ANTICIPATION 12 OF HIDDEN USES 14 OF COMPENSATION 21 OF INDIRECT INFLUENCES 27 OF MEMORY 33 THE DREAM OF AMBITION 38 OF SUBJECTION 41 OF REST 51 OF HUMILITY 55 OF PRIDE 59 OF EXPERIENCE 62 OF ESTIMATING CHARACTER 65 OF HATRED AND ANGER 74 OF GOOD IN THINGS EVIL 76 OF PRAYER 81 THE LORD'S PRAYER 86 OF DISCRETION 88 OF TRIFLES 92 OF RECREATION 95 THE TRAIN OF RELIGION 100 OF A TRINITY 103 OF THINKING 107 OF SPEAKING 115 OF READING 119 OF WRITING 121 OF WEALTH 125 OF INVENTION 130 OF RIDICULE 134 OF COMMENDATION 137 OF SELF-ACQUAINTANCE 142 OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS 150 OF FRIENDSHIP 153 OF LOVE 158 OF MARRIAGE 161 OF EDUCATION 167 OF TOLERANCE 177 OF SORROW 181 OF JOY 184 SECOND SERIES. INTRODUCTORY 189 OF CHEERFULNESS 192 OF YESTERDAY 197 OF TO-DAY 203 OF TO-MORROW 207 OF AUTHORSHIP 210 OF MYSTERY 219 OF GIFTS 227 OF BEAUTY 233 OF FAME 250 OF FLATTERY 258 OF NEGLECT 266 OF CONTENTMENT 275 OF LIFE 281 OF DEATH 288 OF IMMORTALITY 297 OF IDEAS 317 OF NAMES 321 OF THINGS 327 OF FAITH 331 OF HONESTY 341 OF SOCIETY 348 OF SOLITUDE 357 RECAPITULATION 362 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FIRST SERIES. DESIGNER. ENGRAVER. PAGE Title Page GUSTAVE DORÉ. W. J. Linton. Floral Title H. N. HUMPHREYS. J. Swain. Prefatory J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 1 " " " 3 The Words of Wisdom H. N. HUMPHREYS. H. Vizetelly. 4 Memory and Diligence M. F. TUPPER. W. J. Green. 5 Of Truth in Things False J. GILBERT. Dalziel Brs. 7 Of Anticipation T. DALZIEL. " 12 Of Hidden Uses E. DUNCAN. " 14 " B. FOSTER. H. Vizetelly. 18 Of Compensation J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 20 " " " 25 Of Indirect Influences E. H. CORBOULD. " 26 " G. DODGSON. " 29 " W. SEVERN. H. Vizetelly. 32 Of Memory W. L. LEITCH. Dalziel Brs. 33 " B. FOSTER. H. Vizetelly. 35 The Dream of Ambition M. F. TUPPER. W. J. Green. 38 Of Subjection E. H. CORBOULD. Dalziel Brs. 48 Of Subjection E. H. CORBOULD. Dalziel Brs. 49 Of Rest M. F. TUPPER. W. J. Green. 53 Of Humility J. C. HORSLEY. J. Thompson. 55 Of Pride J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 59 " " " 61 Of Experience T. DALZIEL. " 62 Of Estimating Character J. TENNIEL. " 65 " " " 71 Of Hatred and Anger C. W. COPE, R.A. S. Williams. 74 Of Good in Things Evil J. GILBERT. Dalziel Brs. 76 Of Prayer J. C. HORSLEY. " 81 The Lord's Prayer C. W. COPE, R.A. S. Williams. 86 Of Discretion E. H. CORBOULD. Dalziel Brs. 88 Of Recreation E. DUNCAN. " 95 " E. H. CORBOULD. " 99 The Train of Religion J. TENNIEL. " 100 Of Thinking " " 107 Of Speaking G. DODGSON. " 115 Of Writing J. TENNIEL. " 121 Of Wealth J. GILBERT. " 125 Of Invention B. FOSTER. H. Vizetelly. 132 Of Ridicule J. GODWIN. Dalziel Brs. 134 Of Self-Acquaintance J. GILBERT. " 142 Of Cruelty to Animals W. HARVEY. " 149 Of Love H. N. HUMPHREYS. H. Vizetelly. 158 Of Marriage J. SEVERN. " 161 Of Education J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 167 " J. SEVERN. H. Vizetelly. 176 Of Sorrow C. W. COPE, R.A. W. J. Green. 181 Of Joy J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 184 SECOND SERIES. Title Page J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 187 Introductory H. N. HUMPHREYS. H. Vizetelly. 189 Of Yesterday B. FOSTER. " 198 Of To-morrow F. R. PICKERSGILL, A.R.A. Dalziel Brs. 206 Of Mystery J. GILBERT. " 218 Of Beauty B. FOSTER. H. Vizetelly. 237 " J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 239 Of Fame F. R. PICKERSGILL, A.R.A. " 249 Of Neglect E. H. CORBOULD. H. Vizetelly. 266 Of Contentment B. FOSTER. " 275 Of Death J. TENNIEL. Dalziel Brs. 288 " J. SEVERN. H. Vizetelly. 291 Of Names J. GILBERT. Dalziel Brs. 321 Of Faith J. TENNIEL. " 331 " W. SEVERN. H. Vizetelly. 333 Of Society E. H. CORBOULD. Dalziel Brs. 352 Of Solitude J. SEVERN. H. Vizetelly. 359 { H. Vizetelly Initial Letters H. N. HUMPHREYS. { and { J. Swain. FIRST SERIES. PREFATORY. THOUGHTS, that have tarried in my mind, and peopled its inner chambers, The sober children of reason, or desultory train of fancy; Clear running wine of conviction, with the scum and the lees of speculation; Corn from the sheaves of science, with stubble from mine own garner: Searchings after Truth, that have tracked her secret lodes, And come up again to the surface-world, with a knowledge grounded deeper; Arguments of high scope, that have soared to the key-stone of heaven, And thence have swooped to their certain mark, as the falcon to its quarry; The fruits I have gathered of prudence, the ripened harvest of my musings, These commend I unto thee, O docile scholar of Wisdom, These I give to thy gentle heart, thou lover of the right. What, though a guilty man renew that hallowed theme, And strike with feebler hand the harp of Sirach's son? What, though a youthful tongue take up that ancient parable, And utter faintly forth dark sayings as of old? Sweet is the virgin honey, though the wild bee have stored it in a reed, And bright the jewelled band, that circleth an Ethiop's arm; Pure are the grains of gold in the turbid stream of Ganges, And fair the living flowers, that spring from the dull cold sod. Wherefore, thou gentle student, bend thine ear to my speech, For I also am as thou art; our hearts can commune together: To meanest matters will I stoop, for mean is the lot of mortal; I will rise to noblest themes, for the soul hath an heritage of glory: The passions of puny man; the majestic characters of God; The feverish shadows of time, and the mighty substance of eternity. Commend thy mind unto candour, and grudge not as though thou hadst a teacher, Nor scorn angelic Truth for the sake of her evil herald; {1} {2} Heed not him, but hear his words, and care not whence they come; The viewless winds might whisper them, the billows roar them forth, The mean unconscious sedge sigh them in the ear of evening, Or the mind of pride conceive, and the mouth of folly speak them. Lo now, I stand not forth laying hold on spear and buckler, I come a man of peace, to comfort, not to combat; With soft persuasive speech to charm thy patient ear, Giving the hand of fellowship, acknowledging the heart of sympathy: Let us walk together as friends in the shaded paths of meditation, Nor Judgment set his seal until he hath poised his balance; That the chastenings of mild reproof may meet unwitting error, And Charity not be a stranger at the board that is spread for brothers. THE WORDS OF WISDOM. FEW and precious are the words which the lips of Wisdom utter: To what shall their rarity be likened? What price shall count their worth? Perfect and much to be desired, and giving joy with riches, No lovely thing on earth can picture all their beauty. They be chance pearls, flung among the rocks by the sullen waters of Oblivion, Which Diligence loveth to gather, and hang around the neck of Memory; They be white-winged seeds of happiness, wafted from the islands of the blessed, Which Thought carefully tendeth, in the kindly garden of the heart; They be sproutings of an harvest for eternity, bursting through the tilth of time, Green promise of the golden wheat, that yieldeth angels' food; They be drops of the crystal dew, which the wings of seraphs scatter, When on some brighter sabbath, their plumes quiver most with delight: Such, and so precious, are the words which the lips of Wisdom utter. {3} {4} {5} {6} Yet more, for the half is not said, of their might, and dignity, and value; For life-giving be they and glorious, redolent of sanctity and heaven: As fumes of hallowed incense, that veil the throne of the Most High; As beaded bubbles that sparkle on the rim of the cup of immortality; As wreaths of the rainbow spray, from the pure cataracts of truth: Such, and so precious, are the words which the lips of Wisdom utter. Yet once again, loving student, suffer the praises of thy teacher, For verily the sun of the mind, and the life of the heart is Wisdom: She is pure and full of light, crowning grey hairs with lustre, And kindling the eye of youth with a fire not its own; And her words, whereunto canst thou liken them? for earth cannot show their peers: They be grains of the diamond sand, the radiant floor of heaven, Rising in sunny dust behind the chariot of God; They be flashes of the dayspring from on high, shed from the windows of the skies; They be streams of living waters, fresh from the fountain of Intelligence: Such, and so precious, are the words which the lips of Wisdom utter. For these shall guide thee well, and guard thee on thy way; And wanting all beside, with these shalt thou be rich: Though all around be woe, these shall make thee happy; Though all within be pain, these shall bring thee health: Thy good shall grow into ripeness, thine evil wither and decay, And Wisdom's words shall sweetly charm thy doubtful into virtues: Meanness shall then be frugal care; where shame was, thou art modest; Cowardice riseth into caution, rashness is sobered into courage; The wrathful spirit, rendering a reason, standeth justified in anger; The idle hand hath fair excuse, propping the thoughtful forehead. Life shall have no labyrinth but thy steps can track it, For thou hast a silken clue, to lead thee through the darkness: The rampant Minotaur of ignorance shall perish at thy coming, And thine enfranchised fellows hail thy white victorious sails. Wherefore, friend and scholar, hear the words of Wisdom; Whether she speaketh to thy soul in the full chords of revelation; In the teaching earth, or air, or sea; in the still melodies of thought; Or, haply, in the humbler strains that would detain thee here. OF TRUTH IN THINGS FALSE. RROR is a hardy plant; it flourisheth in every soil; In the heart of the wise and good, alike with the wicked and foolish. For there is no error so crooked, but it hath in it some lines of truth: {7} {8} Nor is any poison so deadly, that it serveth not some wholesome use: And the just man, enamoured of the right, is blinded by the speciousness of wrong; And the prudent, perceiving an advantage, is content to overlook the harm. On all things created remaineth the half-effaced signature of God, Somewhat of fair and good, though blotted by the finger of corruption: And if error cometh in like a flood, it mixeth with streams of truth; And the Adversary loveth to have it so, for thereby many are decoyed. Providence is dark in its permissions; yet one day, when all is known, The universe of reason shall acknowledge how just and good were they; For the wise man leaneth on his wisdom, and the righteous trusteth to his righteousness, And those, who thirst for independence, are suffered to drink of disappointment. Wherefore?—to prove and humble them; and to teach the idolaters of Truth, That it is but the ladder unto Him, on whom only they should trust. There is truth in the wildest scheme that imaginative heat hath engendered, And a man may gather somewhat from the crudest theories of fancy: The alchymist laboureth in folly, but catcheth chance gleams of wisdom, And findeth out many inventions, though his crucible breed not gold; The sinner, toying with witchcraft, thinketh to delude his fellows, But there be very spirits of evil, and what if they come at his bidding? He is a bold bad man who dareth to tamper with the dead; For their whereabout lieth in a mystery—that vestibule leading to Eternity, The waiting-room for unclad ghosts, before the presence-chamber of their King: Mind may act upon mind, though bodies be far divided; For the life is in the blood, but souls communicate unseen: And the heat of an excited intellect, radiating to its fellows, Doth kindle dry leaves afar off, while the green wood around it is unwarmed. The dog may have a spirit, as well as his brutal master; A spirit to live in happiness: for why should he be robbed of his existence? Hath he not a conscience of evil, a glimmer of moral sense, Love and hatred, courage and fear, and visible shame and pride? There may be a future rest for the patient victims of the cruel; And a season allotted for their bliss, to compensate for unjust suffering. Spurn not at seeming error, but dig below its surface for the truth; And beware of seeming truths, that grow on the roots of error: For comely are the apples that spring from the Dead Sea's cursed shore, But within are they dust and ashes, and the hand that plucked them shall rue it. A frequent similar effect argueth a constant cause: Yet who hath counted the links that bind an omen to its issue? Who hath expounded the law that rendereth calamities gregarious, Pressing down with yet more woes the heavy-laden mourner? Who knoweth wherefore a monsoon should swell the sails of the prosperous, Blithely speeding on their course the children of good luck? Who hath companied a vision from the horn or ivory gate? Or met another's mind in his, and explained its presence? There is a secret somewhat in antipathies; and love is more than fancy; Yea, and a palpable notice warneth of an instant danger; For the soul hath its feelers, cobwebs floating on the wind, That catch events in their approach with sure and apt presentiment; So that some halo of attraction heraldeth a coming friend, Investing in his likeness the stranger that passed on before; And while the word is in thy mouth, behold thy word fulfilled, And he of whom we spake can answer for himself. O man, little hast thou learnt of truth in things most true, How therefore shall thy blindness wot of truth in things most false? Thou hast not yet perceived the causes of life or motion, How then canst thou define the subtle sympathies of mind? For the spirit, sharpest and strongest when disease hath rent the body, Hath welcomed kindred spirits in nightly visitations, Or learnt from restless ghosts dark secrets of the living, And helped slow justice to her prey by the dreadful teaching of a dream. Verily, there is nothing so true, that the damps of error have not warped it; Verily, there is nothing so false, that a sparkle of truth is not in it. For the enemy, the father of lies, the giant Upas of creation, Whose deadly shade hath blasted this once green garden of the Lord, Can but pervert the good, but may not create the evil; He destroyeth, but cannot build; for he is not antagonist deity: {9} {10} {11} Mighty is his stolen power, yet is he a creature and a subject; Not a maker of abstract wrong, but a spoiler of concrete right: The fiend hath not a royal crown; he is but a prowling robber, Suffered, for some mysterious end, to haunt the King's highway; And the keen sword he beareth, once was a simple ploughshare; Yea, and his panoply of error is but a distortion of the truth: The sickle that once reaped righteousness, beaten from its useful curve, With axe, and spike, and bar, headeth the marauder's halbert. Seek not further, O man, to solve the dark riddle of sin; Suffice it, that thine own bad heart is to thee thine origin of evil. OF ANTICIPATION. THOU hast seen many sorrows, travel-stained pilgrim of the world, But that which hath vexed thee most hath been the looking for evil; And though calamities have crossed thee, and misery been heaped on thy head, Yet ills, that never happened, have chiefly made thee wretched. The sting of pain and the edge of pleasure are blunted by long expectation, For the gall and the balm alike are diluted in the waters of patience: And often thou sippest sweetness, ere the cup is dashed from thy lip; Or drainest the gall of fear, while evil is passing by thy dwelling. A man too careful of danger liveth in continual torment, But a cheerful expecter of the best hath a fountain of joy within him: Yea, though the breath of disappointment should chill the sanguine heart, Speedily gloweth it again, warmed by the live embers of hope; Though the black and heavy surge close above the head for a moment, Yet the happy buoyancy of Confidence riseth superior to Despair. Verily, evils may be courted, may be wooed and won by distrust: For the wise Physician of our weal loveth not an unbelieving spirit; And to those giveth He good, who rely on His hand for good; And those leaveth He to evil, who fear, but trust Him not. Ask for good, and hope it, for the ocean of good is fathomless; Ask for good, and have it, for thy Friend would see thee happy; But to the timid heart, to the child of unbelief and dread, That leaneth on his own weak staff, and trusteth the sight of his eyes, The evil he feared shall come, for the soil is ready for the seed, And suspicion hath coldly put aside the hand that was ready to help him. Therefore look up, sad spirit; be strong, thou coward heart, Or fear will make thee wretched, though evil follow not behind: Cease to anticipate misfortune; there are still many chances of escape; But if it come, be courageous; face it, and conquer thy calamity. There is not an enemy so stout, as to storm and take the fortress of the mind, Unless its infirmity turn traitor, and Fear unbar the gates. The valiant standeth as a rock, and the billows break upon him; The timorous is a skiff unmoored, tost and mocked at by a ripple: The valiant holdeth fast to good, till evil wrench it from him; The timorous casteth it aside, to meet the worst half way: Yet oftentimes is evil but a braggart, that provoketh and will not fight; Or the feint of a subtle fencer, who measureth his thrust elsewhere: Or perchance a blessing in a masque, sent to try thy trust, The precious smiting of a friend, whose frowns are all in love: Often the storm threateneth, but is driven to other climes, And the weak hath quailed in fear, while the firm hath been glad in his confidence. {12} {13} OF HIDDEN USES. HE sea-wort floating on the waves, or rolled up high along the shore, Ye counted useless and vile, heaping on it names of contempt: Yet hath it gloriously triumphed, and man been humbled in his ignorance, For health is in the freshness of its savour, and it cumbereth the beach with wealth; Comforting the tossings of pain with its violet-tinctured essence, And by its humbler ashes enriching many proud. Be this, then, a lesson to thy soul, that thou reckon nothing worthless, Because thou heedest not its use, nor knowest the virtues thereof. And herein, as thou walkest by the sea, shall weeds be a type and an earnest Of the stored and uncounted riches lying hid in all creatures of God: There be flowers making glad the desert, and roots fattening the soil, And jewels in the secret deep, scattered among groves of coral, And comforts to crown all wishes, and aids unto every need, Influences yet unthought, and virtues, and many inventions, And uses above and around, which man hath not yet regarded. Not long to charm away disease hath the crocus yielded up its bulb, Nor the willow lent its bark, nor the nightshade its vanquished poison; Not long hath the twisted leaf, the fragrant gift of China, Nor that nutritious root, the boon of far Peru, Nor the many-coloured dahlia, nor the gorgeous flaunting cactus, Nor the multitude of fruits and flowers, ministered to life and luxury: Even so, there be virtues yet unknown in the wasted foliage of the elm, In the sun-dried harebell of the downs, and the hyacinth drinking in the meadow, In the sycamore's winged fruit, and the facet-cut cones of the cedar; And the pansy and bright geranium live not alone for beauty, Nor the waxen flower of the arbute, though it dieth in a day, Nor the sculptured crest of the fir, unseen but by the stars; And the meanest weed of the garden serveth unto many uses, The salt tamarisk, and juicy flag, the freckled orchis, and the daisy. The world may laugh at famine, when forest-trees yield bread, When acorns give out fragrant drink, and the sap of the linden is as fatness: For every green herb, from the lotus to the darnel, Is rich with delicate aids to help incurious man. Still, Mind is up and stirring, and pryeth in the corners of contrivance, Often from the dark recesses picking out bright seeds of truth: Knowledge hath clipped the lightning's wings, and mewed it up for a purpose, Training to some domestic task the fiery bird of heaven; Tamed is the spirit of the storm, to slave in all peaceful arts, To walk with husbandry and science; to stand in the vanguard against death: And the chemist balanceth his elements with more than magic skill, Commanding stones that they be bread, and draining sweetness out of wormwood. Yet man, heedless of a God, counteth up vain reckonings, Fearing to be jostled and starved out, by the too prolific increase of his kind; And asketh, in unbelieving dread, for how few years to come Will the black cellars of the world yield unto him fuel for his winter. Might not the wide waste sea be pent within narrower bounds? Might not the arm of diligence make the tangled wilderness a garden? And for aught thou canst tell, there may be a thousand methods Of comforting thy limbs in warmth, though thou kindle not a spark. Fear not, son of man, for thyself nor thy seed:—with a multitude is plenty; God's blessing giveth increase, and with it larger than enough. Search out the wisdom of nature, there is depth in all her doings; She seemeth prodigal of power, yet her rules are the maxims of frugality: The plant refresheth the air, and the earth filtereth the water, And dews are sucked into the cloud, dropping fatness on the world: She hath, on a mighty scale, a general use for all things; {14} {15} {16} Yet hath she specially for each its microscopic purpose: There is use in the prisoned air, that swelleth the pods of the laburnum; Design in the venomed thorns, that sentinel the leaves of the nettle; A final cause for the aromatic gum, that congealeth the moss around a rose: A reason for each blade of grass, that reareth its small spire. How knoweth discontented man what a train of ills might follow, If the lowest menial of nature knew not her secret office? If the thistle never sprang up to mock the loose husbandry of indolence, Or the pestilence never swept away an unknown curse from among men? Would ye crush the buzzing myriads that float on the breath of evening? Would ye trample the creatures of God that people the rotting fruit? Would ye suffer no mildew forest to stain the unhealthy wall, Nor a noisome savour to exhale from the pool that breedeth disease? Pain is useful unto man, for it teacheth him to guard his life, And the fetid vapours of the fen warn him to fly from danger: And the meditative mind, looking on, winneth good food for its hunger, Seeing the wholesome root bring forth a poisonous berry; For otherwhile falleth it out that truth, driven to extremities, Yieldeth bitter folly as the spoilt fruit of wisdom. O, blinded is thine eye, if it see not just aptitude in all things: O, frozen is thy heart, if it glow not with gratitude for all things: In the perfect circle of creation not an atom could be spared, From earth's magnetic zone to the bindweed round a hawthorn. The sage, and the beetle at his feet, hath each a ministration to perform: The briar and the palm have the wages of life, rendering secret service. Neither is it thus alone with the definite existences of matter; But motion and sound, circumstance and quality, yea, all things have their office. The zephyr playing with an aspen-leaf,—the earthquake that rendeth a continent; The moon-beam silvering a ruined arch,—the desert-wave dashing up a pyramid; The thunder of jarring icebergs,—the stops of a shepherd's pipe; The howl of the tiger in the glen,—and the wood-dove calling to her mate; The vulture's cruel rage,—the grace of the stately swan; The fierceness looking from the lynx's eye, and the dull stupor of the sloth: To these, and to all, is there added each its USE, though man considereth it lightly; For Power hath ordained nothing which Economy saw not needful. All things being are in concord with the ubiquity of God; Neither is there one thing overmuch, nor freed from honourable servitude. Were there not a need-be of wisdom, nothing would be as it is; For essence without necessity argueth a moral weakness. We look through a glass darkly, we catch but glimpses of truth; But, doubtless, the sailing of a cloud hath Providence to its pilot, Doubtless, the root of an oak is gnarled for a special purpose, The foreknown station of a rush is as fixed as the station of a king, And chaff from the hand of the winnower, steered as the stars in their courses. Man liveth only in himself, but the Lord liveth in all things; And His pervading unity quickeneth the whole creation. Man doeth one thing at once, nor can he think two thoughts together; But God compasseth all things, mantling the globe like air: And we render homage to His wisdom, seeing use in all His creatures, For, perchance, the universe would die, were not all things as they are. {17} {18} {19} OF COMPENSATION. QUAL is the government of heaven in allotting pleasures among men, And just the everlasting law, that hath wedded happiness to virtue: For verily on all things else broodeth disappointment with care, That childish man may be taught the shallowness of earthly enjoyment. Wherefore, ye that have enough, envy ye the rich man his abundance? Wherefore, daughters of affluence, covet ye the cottager's content? Take the good with the evil, for ye all are pensioners of God, And none may choose or refuse the cup His wisdom mixeth. The poor man rejoiceth at his toil, and his daily bread is sweet to him: Content with present good, he looketh not for evil to the future: The rich man languisheth with sloth, and findeth pleasure in nothing, He locketh up care with his gold, and feareth the fickleness of fortune. Can a cup contain within itself the measure of a bucket? Or the straitened appetites of man drink more than their fill of luxury? There is a limit to enjoyment, though the sources of wealth be boundless: And the choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation. Also, though penury and pain be real and bitter evils, I would reason with the poor afflicted, for he is not so wretched as he seemeth. What right hath an offender to complain, though others escape punishment, If the stripes of earned misfortune overtake him in his sin? Wherefore not endure with resignation the evils thou canst not avert? For the coward pain will flee, if thou meet him as a man: Consider, whatever be thy fate, that it might and ought to have been worse, And that it lieth in thy hand to gather even blessing from afflictions: Bethink thee, wherefore were they sent? and hath not use blunted their keenness? Need hope, and patience, and courage, be strangers to the meanest hovel? Thou art in an evil case, it were cruel to deny to thee compassion, But there is not unmitigated ill in the sharpest of this world's sorrows: I touch not the sore of thy guilt; but of human griefs I counsel thee, Cast off the weakness of regret, and gird thee to redeem thy loss: Thou hast gained, in the furnace of affliction, self-knowledge, patience, and humility, And these be as precious ore, that waiteth the skill of the coiner: Despise not the blessings of adversity, nor the gain thou hast earned so hardly, And now thou hast drained the bitter, take heed that thou lose not the sweet. Power is seldom innocent, and envy is the yoke-fellow of eminence; And the rust of the miser's riches wasteth his soul as a canker. The poor man counteth not the cost at which such wealth hath been purchased; He would be on the mountain's top, without the toil and travail of the climbing. But equity demandeth recompense: for high-place, calumny and care; For state, comfortless splendour eating out the heart of home; For warrior fame, dangers and death; for a name among the learned, a spirit overstrained; For honour of all kinds, the goad of ambition; on every acquirement, the tax of anxiety. He that would change with another, must take the cup as it is mixed: Poverty, with largeness of heart; or a full purse, with a sordid spirit; {20} {21} {22} {23} Wisdom, in an ailing body; or a common mind, with health: Godliness, with man's scorn; or the welcome of the mighty, with guilt: Beauty, with a fickle heart; or plainness of face, with affection. For so hath Providence determined, that a man shall not easily discover Unmingled good or evil, to quicken his envy or abhorrence. A bold man or a fool must he be, who would change his lot with another; It were a fearful bargain, and mercy hath lovingly refused it: For we know the worst of ourselves, but the secrets of another we see not, And better is certain bad, than the doubt and dread of worse. Just, and strong, and opportune is the moral rule of God; Ripe in its times, firm in its judgments, equal in the measure of its gifts: Yet men, scanning the surface, count the wicked happy, Nor heed the compensating peace, which gladdeneth the good in his afflictions. They see not the frightful dreams that crowd a bad man's pillow, Like wreathed adders crawling round his midnight conscience; They hear not the terrible suggestions, that knock at the portal of his will, Provoking to wipe away from life the one weak witness of the deed; They know not the torturing suspicions that sting his panting breast, When the clear eye of penetration quietly readeth off the truth. Likewise of the good what know they? The memories bringing pleasure, Shrined in the heart of the benevolent, and glistening from his eye; The calm self-justifying reason that establisheth the upright in his purpose; The warm and gushing bliss that floodeth all the thoughts of the religious. Many a beggar at the cross-way, or grey-haired shepherd on the plain, Hath more of the end of all wealth, than hundreds who multiply the means. Moreover, a moral compensation reacheth to the secrecy of thought; For if thou wilt think evil of thy neighbour, soon shalt thou have him for thy foe: And yet he may know nothing of the cause that maketh thee distasteful to his soul,— The cause of unkind suspicion, for which thou hast thy punishment: And if thou think of him in charity, wishing or praying for his weal, He shall not guess the secret charm that lureth his soul to love thee. For just is retributive ubiquity: Samson did sin with Dalilah, And his eyes and captive strength were forfeit to the Philistine: Jacob robbed his brother, and sorrow was his portion to the grave: David must fly before his foes, yea, though his guilt is covered: And He who, seeming old in youth, was marred for others' sin, For every special crime must bear its special penalty: By luxury, or rashness, or vice, the member that hath erred suffereth,— And therefore the Sacrifice for all was pained at every pore. Alike to the slave and his oppressor cometh night with sweet refreshment, And half of the life of the most wretched is gladdened by the soothings of sleep. Pain addeth zest unto pleasure, and teacheth the luxury of health; There is a joy in sorrow, which none but a mourner can know: Madness hath imaginary bliss, and most men have no more; Age hath its quiet calm, and youth enjoyeth not for haste: Daily, in the midst of its beatitude, the righteous soul is vexed; And even the misery of guilt doth attain to the bliss of pardon. Who, in the face of the born-blind, ever looked on other than content? And the deaf ear listeneth within to the silent music of the heart. There is evil poured upon the earth from the overflowings of corruption,— Sickness, and poverty, and pain, and guilt, and madness, and sorrow; But, as the water from a fountain riseth and sinketh to its level, Ceaselessly toileth justice to equalize the lots of men: For, habit and hope and ignorance, and the being but one of a multitude, And strength of reason in the sage, and dulness of feeling in the fool, And the light elasticity of courage, and the calm resignation of meekness, And the stout endurance of decision, and the weak carelessness of apathy, And helps invisible but real, and ministerings not unfelt, Angelic aid with worldly discomfiture, bodily loss with the soul's gain, Secret griefs, and silent joys, thorns in the flesh, and cordials for the spirit, (—Short of the insuperable barrier dividing innocence from guilt,—) Go far to level all things, by the gracious rule of Compensation. {24} {25} OF INDIRECT INFLUENCES. ACE thy foe in the field, and perchance thou wilt meet thy master, For the sword is chained to his wrist, and his armour buckled for the battle; But find him when he looketh not for thee, aim between the joints of his harness, And the crest of his pride will be humbled, his cruelty will bite the dust. Beard not a lion in his den, but fashion the secret pitfall; So shall thou conquer the strong, thyself triumphing in weakness. The hurricane rageth fiercely, and the promontory standeth in its might, Breasting the artillery of heaven, as darts glance from the crocodile: But the small continual creeping of the silent footsteps of the sea Mineth the wall of adamant, and stealthily compasseth its ruin. The weakness of accident is strong, where the strength of design is weak: And a casual analogy convinceth, when a mind beareth not argument. Will not a man listen? be silent; and prove thy maxim by example: Never fear, thou losest not thy hold, though thy mouth doth not render a reason. Contend not in wisdom with a fool, for thy sense maketh much of his conceit; And some errors never would have thriven, had it not been for learned refutation: Yea, much evil hath been caused by an honest wrestler for truth, And much of unconscious good, by the man that hated wisdom: For the intellect judgeth closely, and if thou overstep thy argument, Or seem not consistent with thyself, or fail in thy direct purpose, The mind that went along with thee, shall stop and return without thee, And thou shalt have raised a foe, where thou mightest have won a friend. Hints, shrewdly strown, mightily disturb the spirit, Where a bare-faced accusation would be too ridiculous for calumny: The sly suggestion toucheth nerves, and nerves contract the fronds, And the sensitive mimosa of affection trembleth to its root; And friendships, the growth of half a century, those oaks that laugh at storms, Have been cankered in a night by a worm, even as the prophet's gourd. Hast thou loved, and not known jealousy? for a sidelong look Can please or pain thy heart more than the multitude of proofs: Hast thou hated, and not learned that thy silent scorn Doth deeper aggravate thy foe than loud-cursing malice?— A wise man prevaileth in power, for he screeneth his battering engine, But a fool tilteth headlong, and his adversary is aware. {26} {27} {28} Behold those broken arches, that oriel all unglazed, That crippled line of columns bleaching in the sun, The delicate shaft stricken midway, and the flying buttress Idly stretching forth to hold up tufted ivy: Thinkest thou the thousand eyes that shine with rapture on a ruin, Would have looked with half their wonder on the perfect pile? And wherefore not—but that light hints, suggesting unseen beauties, Fill the complacent gazer with self-grown conceits? And so, the rapid sketch winneth more praise to the painter, Than the consummate work elaborated on his easel: And so, the Helvetic lion caverned in the living rock Hath more of majesty and force, than it upon a marble pedestal. Tell me, daughter of taste, what hath charmed thine ear in music? Is it the laboured theme, the curious fugue or cento,— Nor rather the sparkles of intelligence flashing from some strange chord, Or the soft melody of sounds far sweeter for simplicity? Tell me, thou son of science, what hath filled thy mind in reading? Is it the volume of detail where all is orderly set down, And they that read may run, nor need to stop and think; The book carefully accurate, that counteth thee no better than a fool, Gorging the passive mind with annotated notes;— Nor rather the half-suggested thoughts, the riddles thou mayst solve, The fair ideas, coyly peeping like young loves out of roses, The quaint arabesque conceptions, half cherub and half flower, The light analogy, or deep allusion, trusted to thy learning, The confidence implied in thy skill to unravel meaning mysteries? For ideas are ofttimes shy of the close furniture of words, And thought, wherein only is power, may be best conveyed by a suggestion: The flash that lighteth up a valley, amid the dark midnight of a storm, Coineth the mind with that scene sharper than fifty summers. A worldly man boasteth in his pride, that there is no power but of money; And he judgeth the characters of men by the differing measures of their means: He stealeth all goodly names, as worth, and value, and substance, Which be the ancient heritage of Virtue, but such an one ascribeth unto Wealth: He spurneth the needy sage, whose wisdom hath enriched nations, And the sons of poverty and learning, without whom earth were a desert: Music, the soother of cares, the tuner of the dank discordant heart-strings, It is nought unto such an one but sounds, whereby some earn their living: The poem, and the picture, and the statue, to him seem idle baubles, Which wealth condescendeth to favour, to gain him the name of patron. But little wotteth he the might of the means his folly despiseth; He considereth not that these be the wires which move the puppets of the world. A sentence hath formed a character, and a character subdued a kingdom; A picture hath ruined souls, or raised them to commerce with the skies: The pen hath shaken nations, and stablished the world in peace; And the whole full horn of plenty been filled from the vial of science. He regardeth man as sensual, the monarch of created matter, And careth not aught for mind, that linketh him with spirits unseen; He feedeth his carcase and is glad, though his soul be faint and famished, And the dull brute power of the body bindeth him a captive to himself. Man liveth from hour to hour, and knoweth not what may happen; Influences circle him on all sides, and yet must he answer for his actions: {29} {30} {31}