Presumptuous Man! the reason wouldst thou find,Why form’d so weak, so little, and so blind?First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess,Why form’d no weaker, blinder, and no less!Ask of thy mother earth, why oaks...

What dire offence from am’rous causes springs,What mighty contests rise from trivial things,…

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;Thus unlamented let me die;Steal from the world, and not a stoneTell where I lie.

Happy the man, whose wish and careA few paternal acres bound,Content to breathe his native airIn his own ground.

True Wit is Nature to advantage dress’dWhat oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d;Something whose truth convinced at sight we find,That gives us back the image of our mind.As shades more sweetly recommend the...

Death, only death, can break the lasting chain;And here, ev’n then, shall my cold dust remain