A Fable

While yet the world was young, and men were few,Nor lurking fraud, nor tyrant rapine knew,In virtue rude, the gaudy arts they scorn'd,Which, virtue lost, degenerate times adorn'd:No sumptuous fabrics yet were seen to rise,Nor gushing fountains taught to invade the skies;With nature, art had not begun the strife,Nor swelling marble rose to mimic life;No pencil yet had learn'd to express the fair;The bounteous earth was all their homely care.

Then did Content exert her genial sway,And taught the peaceful world her power to obey--Content, a female of celestial race,Bright and complete in each celestial grace.Serenely fair she was, as rising day,And brighter than the sun's meridian ray;Joy of all hearts, delight of every eye,Nor grief nor pain appear'd when she was by;Her presence from the wretched banish'd care,Dispersed the swelling sigh, and stopp'd the falling tear.

Long did the nymph her regal state maintain,As long mankind were bless'd beneath her reign;Till dire Ambition, hellish fiend, aroseTo plague the world, and banish man's repose,A monster sprung from that rebellious crewWhich mighty Jove's Phlegraean thunder slew.Resolved to dispossess the royal fair,On all her friends he threaten'd open war;Fond of the novelty, vain, fickle manIn crowds to his infernal standard ran;And the weak maid, defenceless left alone,To avoid his rage, was forced to quit the throne.

It chanced, as wandering through the fields she stray'd,Forsook of all, and destitute of aid,Upon a rising mountain's flowery side,A pleasant cottage, roof'd with turf, she spied:Fast by a gloomy, venerable woodOf shady planes and ancient oaks it stood.Around, a various prospect charm'd the sight;Here waving harvests clad the field with white,Here a rough shaggy rock the clouds did pierce,From which a torrent rush'd with rapid force;Here mountain-woods diffused a dusky shade;Here flocks and herds in flowery valleys play'd,While o'er the matted grass the liquid crystal stray'd.In this sweet place there dwelt a cheerful pair,Though bent beneath the weight of many a year;Who, wisely flying public noise and strife,In this obscure retreat had pass'd their life;The husband Industry was call'd, Frugality the wife.With tenderest friendship mutually bless'd,No household jars had e'er disturbed their rest.A numerous offspring graced their homely board,That still with nature's simple gifts was stored.

The father rural business only knew;The sons the same delightful art pursue.An only daughter, as a goddess fair,Above the rest was the fond mother's care,Plenty; the brightest nymph of all the plain,Each heart's delight, adored by every swain.Soon as Content this charming scene espied,Joyful within herself the goddess cried:--'This happy sight my drooping heart doth raise;The gods, I hope, will grant me gentler days.When with prosperity my life was bless'd,In yonder house I've been a welcome guest:There now, perhaps, I may protection find;For royalty is banish'd from my mind;I'll thither haste: how happy should I be,If such a refuge were reserved for me!'

Thus spoke the fair; and straight she bent her wayTo the tall mountain, where the cottage lay:Arrived, she makes her changed condition known;Tells how the rebels drove her from the throne;What painful, dreary wilds she'd wander'd o'er;And shelter from the tyrant doth implore.

The faithful, aged pair at once were seizedWith joy and grief, at once were pain'd and pleased;Grief for their banish'd queen their hearts' possess'd,And joy succeeded for their future guest:'And if you'll deign, bright goddess, here to dwell,And with your presence grace our humble cell,Whate'er the gods have given with bounteous hand,Our harvest, fields, and flocks, our all command.'

Meantime, Ambition, on his rival's flight,Sole lord of man, attain'd his wish's height;Of all dependence on his subjects eased,He raged without a curb, and did whate'er he pleased;As some wild flame, driven on by furious winds,Wide spreads destruction, nor resistance finds;So rush'd the fiend destructive o'er the plain,Defaced the labours of th' industrious swain;Polluted every stream with human gore,And scatter'd plagues and death from shore to shore.

Great Jove beheld it from the Olympian towers,Where sate assembled all the heavenly powers;Then with a nod that shook the empyrean throne,Thus the Saturnian thunderer begun:--'You see, immortal inmates of the skies,How this vile wretch almighty power defies;His daring crimes, the blood which he has spilt,Demand a torment equal to his guilt.Then, Cyprian goddess, let thy mighty boySwift to the tyrant's guilty palace fly;There let him choose his sharpest, hottest dart,And with his former rival wound his heart.And thou, my son (the god to Hermes said),Snatch up thy wand, and plume thy heels and head;Dart through the yielding air with all thy force,And down to Pluto's realms direct thy course;There rouse Oblivion from her sable cave,Where dull she sits by Lethe's sluggish wave;Command her to secure the sacred bound.Where lives Content retired, and all aroundDiffuse the deepest glooms of Stygian night,And screen the virgin from the tyrant's sight;That the vain purpose of his life may tryStill to explore, what still eludes his eye.'He spoke; loud praises shake the bright abode,And all applaud the justice of the god.