William Cowper

A story, in which native humour reigns,
Is often useful, always entertains;
A graver fact, enlisted on read more

A story, in which native humour reigns,
Is often useful, always entertains;
A graver fact, enlisted on your side,
May furnish illustration, well applied;
But sedentary weavers of long tales
Give me the fidgets, and my patience fails.

Defend me, therefore, common sense, say
From reveries so airy, from the toil
Of dropping buckets into read more

Defend me, therefore, common sense, say
From reveries so airy, from the toil
Of dropping buckets into empty wells,
And growing old in drawing nothing up.

Call'd to the temple of impure delight
He that abstains, and he alone, does right.
If a read more

Call'd to the temple of impure delight
He that abstains, and he alone, does right.
If a wish wander that way, call it home;
He cannot long be safe whose wishes roam.

That, though on pleasure she was bent,
She had a frugal mind.

That, though on pleasure she was bent,
She had a frugal mind.

If hindrances obstruct the way,
Thy magnanimity display.
And let thy strength be seen:
read more

If hindrances obstruct the way,
Thy magnanimity display.
And let thy strength be seen:
But O, if Fortune fill thy sail
With more than a propitious gale,
Take half thy canvas in.