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Tum porro puer (ut sævis projectus ab undis,Navira) nudus humi jacet infans indigus omniVitali auxilio,———Vagituque locum lugubri complet, ut æquum est,Cui tantum in vitâ restat transire malorum.Lucret. de Nat. Rerum, lib. v.
THE year revolves, and I again exploreThe simple Annals of my Parish-poor; What Infant-members, in my flock, appear;What Pairs I blest, in the departed year;And who, of Old or Young, of Nymphs or Swains,Are lost to life, its pleasures and its pains. No Muse I ask, before my view to bringThe humble actions of the swains I sing.—How pass'd the youthful, how the old their days,Who sank in sloth, and who aspir'd to praise;Their tempers, manners, morals, customs, arts,What parts they had,and how they employ'd their parts;By what elated, sooih'd, seduc'd, deprest.Full well I know—these Records give the rest. Is there a place, save one the Poet sees,A Land of Love, of Liberty and Ease;Where labour wearies not, nor cares suppressTh' eternal flow of rustic happiness;Where no proud Mansion frowns in awful State,Or keeps the Sunshine from the Cottage-Gate;
