[Page 155]

To the Reverend Mr. John Howe.

THE Vanity of Human Cares.

I.
1 GREAT Man, permit the Muse to climb
2 And seat her at thy Feet,
3 Bid her attempt a Thought sublime,
4 And consecrate her Wit.
5 I feel, I feel th' attractive Force
6 Of thy superiour Soul,
7 My Chariot flies her upward Course,
8 The Wheels Divinely roll.
9 Now let me chide the mean Affairs
10 And mighty Toyl of Men:
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11 How they grow grey in trifling Cares,
12 Or wast the Motions of the Spheres
13 Upon Delights as vain!
II.
14 A Puff of Honour fills the Mind,
15 And Yellow Dust is solid Good;
16 Thus like the Ass of Savage Kind
17 We snuff the Breezes of the Wind,
18 Or steal the Serpents Food.
19 Could all the Choirs
20 That charm the Poles
21 But strike one doleful Sound,
22 'Twould be imploy'd to mourn our Souls,
23 Souls that were fram'd of Sprightly Fires
24 In Floods of Folly drown'd.
25 Souls made of Glory seek a Brutal Joy,
26 How they disclaim their Heavenly Birth,
27 Melt their Bright Substance down with drossy Earth,
28 And hate to be refin'd from that impure Alloy.
III.
29 Oft has thy Genius rouz'd us hence
30 With Elevated Song,
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31 Bid us renounce this World of Sence,
32 Bid us divide th' Immortal Prize
33 With the Seraphick Throng:
34 "Knowledge and Love make Spirits blest,
35 " Knowledge their Food and Love their Rest;
36 But Flesh, the unmanageable Beast,
37 Resists the Pity of thine Eyes
38 And Musick of thy Tongue.
39 Then let the Worms of groveling Mind
40 Round the short Joys of Earthy Kind
41 In restless Windings Roam;
42 HOWE hath an ample Orb of Soul,
43 Where shining Worlds of Knowledge roll,
44 Where Love the Center and the Pole
45 Compleats the Heaven at Home.

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Title (in Source Edition): To the Reverend Mr. John Howe.
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. 155-157. [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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