Had thought been all, sweet speech had been denied;
Speech, thought's canal! speech, thought's criterion too!
Thought in the mine may come forth gold or dross;
When coin'd in words, we know its real worth:
If sterling, store it for thy future use;
'Twill buy thee benefit, perhaps renown:
Thought too, deliver'd, is the more possess'd;

* Teaching, we learn; and giving, we retain
The births of intellect; when dumb, forgot.

Speech ventilates our intellectual fire;
Speech burnishes our mental magazine;
Brightens for ornament, and whets for use.
What numbers, sheath'd in erudition, lie
Plunged to the hilts in venerable tomes,
And rusted; who might have borne an edge,
And play'd a sprightly beam, if born to speech!
If born blest heirs to half their mother's tongue!
'Tis thought's exchange, which, like th' alternate push
Of waves conflicting, breaks the learned scum,
And defecates the student's standing pool.

In contemplation is his proud resource?
'Tis poor as proud: by converse unsustain'd
Rude thought runs wild in contemplation's field:
Converse, the menage, breaks it to the bit
Of due restraint; and emulation's spur
Gives graceful energy, by rivals awed:
'Tis converse qualifies for solitude,
As exercise for salutary rest:
By that untutor'd, contemplation raves;
And nature's fool, by wisdom's is outdone.

34

In furrow'd brows: so gentle life's descent,
We shut our eyes, and think it is a plain.
We take fair days in winter for the spring:
And turn our blessings into bane: since oft
Man must compute that age he cannot feel,
He scarce believes he's older for his years:
Thus, at life's latest eve, we keep in store
One disappointment sure, to crown the rest—
The disappointment of a promised hour.

On this, or similar, PHILANDER! thou,
Whose mind was moral, as the preacher's tongue;
And strong to wield all science, worth the name;
How often we talk'd down the summer's sun,
And cool'd our passions by the breezy stream!
How often thaw'd and shorten'd winter's eve,
By conflict kind, that struck out latent truth,
Best found, so sought; to the recluse more coy !
Thoughts disentangle passing o'er the lip;
Clean runs the thread; if not, 'tis thrown away,
Or kept to tie up nonsense for a song—
Song, fashionably fruitless! such as stains
The fancy, and unhallow'd passion fires;
Chiming her saints to Cytherea's fane.

Know'st thou, LORENZO ! what a friend contains ?
As bees mix'd nectar draw from fragrant flowers,
So men from friendship, wisdom and delight;
Twins tied by nature ; if they part, they die.
Hast thou no friend to set thy mind abroad ?
Good sense will stagnate : thoughts shut up, want air,
And spoil, like bales unopen'd to the sun.

35

Had thought been all, sweet speech had been denied;
Speech, thought's canal ! speech, thought's criterion too !
Thought in the mine may come forth gold or dross;
When coin'd in words, we know its real worth:
If sterling, store it for thy future use :
'Twill buy thee benefit, perhaps renown :
Thought too, deliver'd, is the more possess'd :
Teaching, we learn ; and giving, we retain
The births of intellect ; when dumb, forgot.
Speech ventilates our intellectual fire :
Speech burnishes our mental magazine ;
Brightens for ornament, and whets for use.
What numbers, sheath'd in erudition, lie
Plunged to the hilts in venerable tomes,
And rusted; who might have borne an edge,
And play'd a sprightly beam, if born to speech !
If born blest heirs to half their mother's tongue !
'Tis thought's exchange, which, like th' alternate push
Of waves conflicting, breaks the learned scum,
And defecates the student's standing pool.

In contemplation is his proud resource ?
'Tis poor as proud : by converse unsustain'd
Rude thought runs wild in contemplation's field :
Converse, the menage, breaks it to the bit
Of due restraint ; and emulation's spur
Gives graceful energy, by rivals awed :
'Tis converse qualifies for solitude,
As exercise for salutary rest :
By that untutor'd, contemplation raves ;
And nature's fool, by wisdom's is outdone.

B1978.43.1357 ba-obj. 2280 -0001

Yale Center for British Art, 2010