Upon the guilty culprit's head;
Or, if you choose to take instead,
Example from the good and wise,
Behold the joy that fills their eyes,
E'en when their martyr'd limbs are burn'd,
Or round the torturing wheel are turn'd.
No miser hath my law withstood;
Illgotten wealth bodes no man good;
And scourging Justice always meets,
Sooner or later, him who cheats.
He who maltreats an animal
Even in this world shortly shall,
By some other beast be slain,
Or made to suffer cruel pain.
Thus the sportsman bursts his gun,
The driver oft is overrun,
The reckless huntsman breaks his neck,
The fisher's lost in watery creek:
And you will find that those endure
Pains, if less obvious, not less sure,
Who any creatures do oppress,
Or e'en repulse their fond caress.
He, who is false, is not believ'd,
And the deceiver is deeiv'd;
But note how Heaven doth encrust,
With coat of mail, the good and just,
He who respects his parent's ways,
On earth doth lengthen out his days;
And those are fortunate alone,
Who, all their lives, have mercy shown.
But Jove his justice oft delays,
And his dire retribution stays,
To give the sinner time to turn
To Virtue's path, and error spurn;
But should he obdurate appear,
Unwarn'd by Purgatory here,
In t'other world he's sure to find,
Pain suited to his state of mind,
E'en here no crimes unpunish'd go;
He must receive who deals the blow;
And he that meditates mischance,
To his own neighbour, falls askance,
And, when he hath contrived his snare,
Shall oft be found entangled there!
There is a rule above that law,
From which the visible world doth draw
Its nature; and this rule is sure,
Through endless ages, to endure-
This in my charge, by Jove assign'd,
I am his moral law of mind:
In my just dealings, then, descry,
Heaven's own eternal harmony:
And if from woe you would be free,
Mortals, you must follow me!
Follow, but with patience due,—
And I will teach ye to renew
The lease of life, on tenure sure,
That shall for evermore eudure,
In those exalted regions, where
The blest inhale empyrean air,
Pure as the first creative breath,
That exemption gives from death.
There Psyche, new in peerless grace,
Wrap'd in th' eternal fond embrace
Of her dear Cupid, now reposes
In bowers of jessamine and roses
There on beds of violet sweet,
Fair Venus doth Adonis meet;
There, shaded by Hesperian boughs.
Adam and Eve renew their vows
To God, and bind each rebel sense
In bonds of first obedience,
Right grateful that, their penance o'er,
Their sons shall sin and die no more.
There Hector is rejoic'd to see,
Once more his sweet Andromache,
Nor is Hermione the less
Gladden'd Orestes to caress.
There the wanderer Ulysses
Bathes Penelope in kisses,
While by them honest Argus stands,
Licking his long loved master's hands;
And the great Alexander thus
Greets his farfam'd Bucephalus.
Each parent dear from earth remov'd,
The faithful dog, the wife belov'd,
Each brother, sister, and the train
Of cherish'd friends, there, meet again,
With God for ever to abide,
Cloath'd in a body glorified!
There the sweet Celestial Queen,
Circled round about, is seen,
By her chosen Virgin Choir,
Each in gradation mounting higher,
In due proportion, just as she
Hath prov'd her strength of chastity;
To these She gives her purest kiss,
And drenches in celestial bliss
Such maids as wear the triple crown,
And tread the threetongued adder down!
Therefore the heavenly succour seek,
Of that sincovering Virtue meek,
Blest Charity, that long survives
Her sisters, and for ever lives.
But see now Titan's parting light,
Glows on Judæa's balmy night,
As now he shoots his upward beams,
Aslant in golden radient streams,
Through clouds in colours richly press'd,
Such as I whylome gladly press'd,
When cushion'd on their purple bed,
To my ethereal thone I fled.
Hark, from the sable northern pole,
What measur'd peals of thunder roll,
Proclaiming that to me is given,
Jove's summons to return to Heaven,
And quit the brood of Earth that must,
Quickly turn again to dust;
But anon before I fly,
To my seat above the sky,
My office is, to ratify
Thy Charter of Eternity,
And from the party coloured bow
Of Iris, I, to all below,
Proclaim the penitent's release,
And pledge afford of endless peace:
So now I quickly bid adieu,
To this nether world and you,
And if you will immortal be,
Mortals, you must follow me.
END OF THE PASTORAL.
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