Ode To Content

DAUGHTER of Innocence! descend,
Thou stranger to repining Care;
Whose breast no furious passions rend,
Let human hearts thy influence share:
Why wilt thou still our eager search elude,
And thy fair form seclude?
Though Plenty decks the sumptuous board,
And gaudy Splendor rules the feast;
Can these felicity afford,
If thou, Content, be not a guest?
Not all the wealth that rears an Indian throne,
Thy absence can atone.
See idle Folly's frantic train,
Loud Riot rules their midnight hour;
Their bosoms rack'd with guilty pain,
Ne'er own'd thy soothing, balmy pow'r:
Remorse with deadly venom points the dart,
They feel the rankling smart.
The simple hind, whose lowly cot
Thy ever-placid smiles adorn;
Blest in his undistinguish'd lot,
With joy salutes each rising morn:
And when he quits his daily toils for rest,
No evil haunts his breast.
Be thou, O Nymph, my constant guide,
Through varying Life's tempestuous seas;
'Tis thou canst stem each adverse tide,
And find th' unruffled port of Ease:
Thou canst in ev'ry storm a calm create,
And smile at angry Fate.
O grant me oft the temp'rate bliss,
With thee to pass the silent hour
(To changeful Fortune's frown submiss),
In calm Retirement's shady bow'r:
Or with thy peaceful family to dwell,
In some sequester'd cell.
Where Health is found with ruddy brow,
And Meekness flies the voice of Fame;
And Contemplation feels the glow
Of pure Devotion's hallow'd flame;
And radiant Hope, who darts her eagle eye
To scenes beyond the sky.
Sincerity with artless mien,
Firm Faith, whom Doubt can ne'er annoy;
Thy beauteous race shall join the scene,
Sedate Repose and tranquil Joy;
With Industry, who slavish want disdains,
And spurns Sloth's lagging chains.
Deign, gentle Power, on earth t' abide,
And shed thy breathing sweets around;
Now o'er the social hours preside,
Now tread the solitary ground:
Celestial Happiness, thy constant friend,
Shall all thy paths attend.