[Page 136]

TO THE Reverend Mr. B. Rowe.

'Tis Dangerous to follow the Multitude.

I.
1 ROWE, if we make the Croud our Guide
2 Thro' Life's uncertain Road,
3 Mean is the Chase; and wandering wide
4 We miss th' Immortal Good.
5 Men live at random and by Chance,
6 Bright Reason never leads the Dance;
7 Whilst in the broad and beaten Way
8 O're Hills and Dales from Truth we stray,
9 To Ruin we descend, to Ruin we advance.
[Page 137]
II.
10 Wisdom retires, she hates the Crowd,
11 And with a decent Scorn
12 Aloof she climbs her steepy Seat,
13 Where nor the Grave nor Giddy Feet
14 Of the Learn'd Vulgar or the Rude
15 Have e're a Passage worn.
III.
16 Meer Hazard first began the Track
17 Where Custom leads her Thousands blind
18 In willing Chains and strong;
19 There's not one bold, one noble Mind
20 Dares tread the fatal Error back,
21 But Hand in Hand our selves we bind
22 And drag the Age along.
IV.
23 Mortals, a Savage Herd, and loud
24 As Billows on a noisy Flood
25 In rapid order roll:
26 Example makes the Mischief good:
27 With jocund Heel we beat the Road
28 Unheedful of the Goal.
[Page 138]
V.
29 Me let some Friendly Seraph's Wing
30 Snatch from the Crowd, and bear Sublime
31 To Wisdom's lofty Tower,
32 Thence to survey that wretched Thing
33 Mankind; and in Exalted Rhime
34 Bless the delivering Power.

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Title (in Source Edition): TO THE Reverend Mr. B. Rowe.
Author: Isaac Watts
Themes:
Genres: address; ode

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Watts, Isaac, 1674-1748. Horæ lyricæ: Poems, chiefly of the lyric kind. In two books. ... By I. Watts. London: Printed by S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence at the Sign of the Angel in the Poultrey. MDCCVI., 1706, pp. 136-138. [20],267,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T82397; OTA K067329.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.)

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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.

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