328 CONSOLATIONS OF SOLITUDE
And, to reward him for the past, His peace shall perfect be at last.
��Like them that climb the mountain's height,
He from a safe but rocky steep Beholds far down delusion's light,
From error's clouds that 'neath him sweep, Darting through storms its vivid flash. Followed by passion's thunder-crash.
Yet, o'er the tempest raised secure. He, lordly throned in worlds serene,
Looks from a cloudless sky and pure Upon the wild, distracting scene,
As calmly as his eyes survey
The sunset of a summer's day.
��TO A LEARNED MAN DREADING THE APPROACH OF OLD AGE.
And dost thou grieve, because old age
Comes travelling on so fast, Because life's weary pilgrimage
Must wear thee out at last ? Do wrinkled brows and locks of gray
Thy troubled fancy fright 1 The sun hath beamed on all thy day —
Why dread the moon at night ?
No, let the bad, the vain, the weak,
The flight of time regret. In pleasure's ranks who vainly seek
Their errors to forget.
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