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[Page 302]
A FABLE.
1 A raven while with glossy breast,
2 Her new-laid eggs she fondly press'd,
3 And on her wicker-work high mounted
4 Her chickens prematurely counted,
5 (A fault philosophers might blame
6 If quite exempted from the same)
7 Enjoy'd at ease the genial day,
8 'Twas April as the bumkins say,
9 The legislature call'd it May.
10 But suddenly a wind as high
11 As ever swept a winter sky,
12 Shook the young leaves about her ears,
13 And fill'd her with a thousand fears,
14 Lest the rude blast should snap the bough,
15 And spread her golden hopes below.
16 But just at eve the blowing weather,
17 And all her fears were hush'd together:
18 And now, quoth poor unthinking Ralph,
19 'Tis over, and the brood is safe;
[Page 303]20 (For ravens though as birds of omen,
21 They teach both conj'rers and old women
22 To tell us what is to befall,
23 Can't prophecy, themselves, at all.)
24 The morning came, when neighbour Hodge,
25 Who long had mark'd her airy lodge,
26 And destin'd all the treasure there
27 A gift to his expecting fair,
28 Clim'b like a squirrel to his dray,
29 And bore the worthless prize away.
MORAL.
30 'Tis providence alone secures
31 In every change, both mine and your's.
32 Safety consists not in escape
33 From dangers of a frightful shape,
34 An earthquake may be bid to spare
35 The man that's strangled by a hair.
36 Fate steals along with silent tread,
37 Found oft'nest in what least we dread,
38 Frowns in the storm with angry brow,
39 But in the sunshine strikes the blow.
Source edition
Cowper, William, 1731-1800. Poems: by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. London: printed for J. Johnson, 1782, pp. 302-303. [4],367,[1]p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T14895; OTA K027775.000) (Page images digitized by the University of California Libraries.)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by William Cowper
- ANOTHER. Addressed to a YOUNG LADY. ()
- BOADICEA, AN ODE. ()
- CHARITY. ()
- A COMPARISON. ()
- CONVERSATION. ()
- THE DIVERTING HISTORY OF JOHN GILPIN, SHEWING HOW HE WENT FARTHER THAN HE INTENDED AND CAME SAFE HOME AGAIN. ()
- THE DOVES. ()
- AN EPISTLE TO JOSEPH HILL, ESQ. ()
- EXPOSTULATION. ()
- HEROISM. ()
- HOPE. ()
- HORACE. Book the 2d. ODE the 10th. ()
- HUMAN FRAILTY. ()
- THE LILY AND THE ROSE. ()
- THE LOVE OF THE WORLD REPROVED; OR, HYPOCRISY DETECTED. ()
- THE MODERN PATRIOT. ()
- MUTUAL FORBEARANCE, Necessary to the Happiness of the Married State. ()
- THE NIGHTINGALE AND GLOW-WORM. ()
- ODE TO PEACE. ()
- On a GOLDFINCH starved to Death in his Cage. ()
- On observing some Names of little Note recorded in the BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA. ()
- On the Burning of LORD MANSFIELD'S Library, together with his MSS. by the Mob, in the Month of June, 1780. ()
- On the Promotion of EDWARD THURLOW, Esq. to the Lord High Chancellorship of ENGLAND. ()
- ON THE SAME. ()
- The PINE APPLE and the BEE. ()
- THE POET, THE OYSTER, AND SENSITIVE PLANT. ()
- THE PROGRESS OF ERROR. ()
- A REFLECTION on the foregoing ODE. ()
- REPORT Of an adjudged Case not to be found in any of the Books. ()
- RETIREMENT. ()
- THE SHRUBBERY, Written in a Time of Affliction. ()
- TABLE TALK. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK I. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK II. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK III. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK IV. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK V. ()
- [THE TASK, A POEM, IN SIX BOOKS.] BOOK VI. ()
- TIROCINIUM. ()
- To the REV. MR. NEWTON. An Invitation into the Country. ()
- To the Rev. WILLIAM CAWTHORNE UNWIN. ()
- [Translation] 1. THE GLOW-WORM, ()
- [Translation] 2. THE JACK DAW. ()
- [Translation] 3. THE CRICKET. ()
- [Translation] 4. THE PARROT. ()
- TRUTH. ()
- VERSES, supposed to be written by ALEXANDER SELKIRK, during his solitary Abode in the Island of JUAN FERNANDEZ. ()
- THE WINTER NOSEGAY. ()