AMYNTAS.
65
Would you enjoy? the way to your enjoyment
Must not be plain; but you must climb, and struggle
To reach the arduous pinnacle of bliss.
Great part of happiness precedes fruition,
And mingles with the labour of acquiring.
The trifling part the sensual organs give us,
Is gross, and animal, and soon grows vapid;
The finer part, which rises from the mind,
Is lasting, active, spirit all, and Æther,
Worthy a being raised above the brutes.
In every nerve it beats, through every pore
It breathes, it's ardour buoys our mortal frame;
It purifies, it subtilizes matter,
And gives to man the pleasures of a god.
It cheers existence in whatever state;
Warms us on Caucasus, and on the line
It fans us with a cool Italian breeze.
We must not give the moment you demand,
Or we would dwindle in your estimation
From goddesses to despicable slaves.
Must not be plain; but you must climb, and struggle
To reach the arduous pinnacle of bliss.
Great part of happiness precedes fruition,
And mingles with the labour of acquiring.
The trifling part the sensual organs give us,
Is gross, and animal, and soon grows vapid;
The finer part, which rises from the mind,
Is lasting, active, spirit all, and Æther,
Worthy a being raised above the brutes.
In every nerve it beats, through every pore
It breathes, it's ardour buoys our mortal frame;
It purifies, it subtilizes matter,
And gives to man the pleasures of a god.
It cheers existence in whatever state;
Warms us on Caucasus, and on the line
It fans us with a cool Italian breeze.
We must not give the moment you demand,
Or we would dwindle in your estimation
From goddesses to despicable slaves.
No,
