Always kind, till better taught,
By experience dearly bought.
3 So the calm but faithless sea,
(Lively emblem, world, of thee,)
Tempts the shepherd from the shore,
Foreign regions to explore.
4 While no wrinkled wave is seen,
While the sky remains serene,
Fill'd with hopes and golden schemes.
Of a storm he little dreams.
5 By ere long the tempest raves,
Then he trembles at the waves,
Wishes then he had been wise,
But too late—he sinks and dies.
6 Hapless, thus, are they, vain world,
Soon on rocks of ruin hurl'd,
Who, admiring thee untried,
Court thy pleasure, wealth, or pride.
7 Such a shipwreck had been mine.
Had not Jesus (name divine!)
Saved me with a mighty hand,
And restored my soul to land.
8 Now, with gratitude I raise
Ebenezers to his praise;
Now my rash pursuits are o'er,
I can trust thee, world, no more.
100.
The Enchantment Dissolved.
1 Blinded in youth by Satan s arts,
The world to our unpractised hearts
A flatt'ring prospect shows;
Our fancy forms a thousand schemes
Of gay delights, and golden dreams.
And undisturb'd repose.
2 So in the desert's dreary waste,
By magic power produced in haste,
(As ancient fables say,)