Quickly fired, as in beginners

In Love's school, and yet no sinners. 'Twere too long to speak of all;

What we harmony do call

In a body should be there.

Well he should his clothes, too, wear,
Yet no tailor help to make him;

Drest, you still for man should take him,
And not think h' had eat a stake,

Or were set up in a brake.

Valiant he should be as fire, Showing danger more than ire. Bounteous as the clouds to earth, And as honest as his birth;

All his actions to be such,

As to do no thing too much :
Nor o'er praise, nor yet condemn,
Nor out-value, nor contemn;

Nor do wrongs, nor wrongs receive,
Nor tie knots, nor knots unweave;
And from baseness to be free,
As he durst love Truth and me.

Such a man, with every part,

I could give my very heart;
But of one if short he came,
I can rest me where I am.

— BEN JONSON.

15.

A PROPER WOMAN.

He that loves a rosy cheek
Or a coral lip admires,
Or from star-like eyes doth seek
Fuel to maintain his fires;
As old time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.

But a smooth and steadfast mind,
Gentle thoughts and calm desires,
Hearts with equal love combined,
Kindle never dying fires;
Where these are not, I despise
Lovely cheeks, or lips, or eyes.

ONCE, in the flight of ages past,

There lived a man: - and WHO was HE?

Mortal! howe'er thy lot be cast,

That man resembled thee.

Unknown the region of his birth,
The land in which he died unknown:
His name has perished from the earth;
This truth survives alone:

That joy and grief, and hope and fear,
Alternate triumphed in his. breast;

The bounding pulse, the languid limb,
The changing spirits' rise and fall,
We know that these were felt by him,
For these are felt by all.

He loved, but whom he loved, the grave

-

Hath lost in its unconscious womb:

Oh, she was fair! — but nought could save Her beauty from the tomb.

He saw whatever thou hast seen;
Encountered all that troubles thee:
He was- whatever thou hast been;
He is what thou shalt be.

The rolling seasons, day and night,
Sun, moon, and stars, the earth and main,
Erewhile his portion, life and light,

To him exist in vain.

The clouds and sunbeams o'er his eye
That once their shades and glory threw,

Have left in yonder silent sky

No vestige where they flew.

The annals of the human race,

Their ruins since the world began,

Of HIM afford no other trace

Than this,

THERE LIVED A MAN!

-JAMES MONTGOMERY.

17.

THE PERFECT LIFE.

It is not growing like a tree

In bulk, doth make Man better be; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere: A lily of a day

Is fairer far in May,

Although it fall and die that night —

It was the plant and flower of Light.

In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be.

-BEN JONSON.

18.

THE CONTENTED MIND.

I WEIGH not fortune's frown or smile;
I joy not much in earthly joys;
I seek not state, I seek not style;
I am not fond of fancy's toys;
I rest so pleased with what I have,
I wish no more, no more I crave.

I quake not at the thunder's crack;
I tremble not at noise of war;
I swound not at the news of wrack;
I shrink not at a blazing star;
I fear not loss, I hope not gain,
I envy none, I none disdain.

I see ambition never pleased;

I see some Tantals starved in store;
I see gold's dropsy seldom eased;
I see e'en Midas gape for more:
I neither want, nor yet abound —
Enough's a feast, content is crowned.

I feign not friendship, where I hate;
I fawn not on the great in show;
I prize, I praise a mean estate
Neither too lofty nor to low :

This, this is all my choice, my cheer-
A mind content, a conscience clear.

-JOSHUA SYLVESTER.

19.

A WISH.

THIS only grant me, that my means may lie
Too low for envy, for contempt too high.
Some honor I would have

Not from great deeds, but good alone.
The unknown are better than ill known;
Rumor can ope the grave.

Acquaintance I would have, but when 't depends
Not on the number, but the choice of friends.