[Page 37]
ON WHAT THE WORLD WILL SAY.
1 Of all the foolish vain pretences,
2 That mortals use to cheat their senses,
3 This has the greatest sway —
4 Not that, which conscience dictates right,
5 Tho' clearly mark'd as day from night,
6 But what the World will say.
7 To this, as to some idol god,
8 Who rules us with an iron rod,
9 We sacrifice each day;
10 Our time, our judgment, and our ease
11 Alike bow down this shrine to please
12 Thro' fear what it might say.
[Page 38]13 Thus subject to it's base control,
14 We check each motion of the soul,
15 Which points to Reason's way,
16 Left, varying from the giddy throng,
17 We rudely shew them they are wrong,
18 What would they then not say?
19 While motives weak as these prevail,
20 We turn with every shifting sail
21 Of Fashion's pow'rful sway,
22 Down her impetuous tide we're hurl'd,
23 Lost to each comfort in the world,
24 Thro' fear what it might say.
25 Thus like some heedless bark we're tost,
26 Till foundering on that very coast
27 Where all our treasure lay,
28 Deserted and forlorn we lie,
29 Unpitied by each stander-by,
30 Nor cheer'd by what they say.
[Page 39]31 Oh could the World that peace bestow,
32 Which, courting it, we all forego,
33 Our toils it well would pay;
34 But since the sad reverse we find,
35 'Tis nought but madness e'er to mind
36 What such a World can say.
About this text
Author: Mary Alcock (née Cumberland)
Themes:
Genres:
occasional poem
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Source edition
Alcock [née Cumberland], Mary, 1741?–1798. Poems, &c. &c. by the Late Mrs. Mary Alcock [poems only]. London: Printed for C. Dilly, Poultry, 1799, pp. 37-39. vii,[25],183,[1]p. (ESTC T86344) (Page images digitized by University of Michigan Library.)
Editorial principles
Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. 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 Mary Alcock (née Cumberland)
- THE 55TH PSALM. ()
- THE 8TH, 9TH, AND 10TH VERSES OF THE 57TH PSALM. ()
- ADDRESSED TO SLEEP. ()
- THE AIR BALLOON. ()
- AN AUNT'S LAMENTATION FOR THE ABSENCE OF HER NIECE. WRITTEN FROM HASTINGS. ()
- THE BODY-POLITIC. ()
- CHARADE. ()
- THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER'S COMPLAINT. ()
- A COLLEGE LIFE. FOR THE VASE AT BATH-EASTON. ()
- THE CONFINED DEBTOR. A FRAGMENT FROM A PRISON. ()
- DITTO. ()
- DITTO. ()
- DITTO. ()
- EPIGRAM. ()
- FROM THE XIITH CHAPTER OF ST. MARK, 41ST VERSE, TO THE END. ()
- THE HIVE OF BEES: A FABLE, WRITTEN IN DECEMBER 1792. ()
- A HYMN. ()
- A HYMN. ()
- HYMN. ()
- HYMN. ()
- HYMN. ()
- IN RETURN FOR THE PRESENT OF A PAIR OF BUCKLES. ()
- INSTRUCTIONS, SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN IN PARIS, FOR THE MOB IN ENGLAND. ()
- THE LXIIID PSALM. ()
- MODERN MANNERS. ()
- ON PLEASURE. ()
- ON RAILLERY. WRITTEN IN MAY 1781, FOR THE VASE AT BATH-EASTON. ()
- ON SENSIBILITY. ()
- ON THE DEATH OF DAVID GARRICK, Esq. ()
- ON THE HUMAN HEART. ()
- ON THE VIOLENT DEBATES IN THE HOUSE OF PEERS, UPON THE BILL FOR SUSPENDING THE HABEAS CORPUS, &c. ()
- A PARODY UPON SWIFT's NURSES' SONG. ()
- A PARODY UPON WHO DARES TO KILL KILDARE. ()
- A PARTY AT QUADRILLE. ()
- THE POWER OF FANCY. WRITTEN FOR THE VASE AT BATH-EASTON. ()
- PSALM CXXXIX. ()
- A RECEIPT FOR WRITING A NOVEL. ()
- RIDDLE. ()
- THE ROSE TREE AND THE POPPY. A FABLE. ()
- A SONG. ()
- TO A CERTAIN AUTHOR, ON HIS WRITING A PROLOGUE, WHEREIN HE DESCRIBES A TRAVELLER FROZEN IN A SNOW STORM. ()
- UPON READING SOME VERSES UPON A SCULL. ()
- A VISION. ()
- WRITTEN AT HARROWGATE. ()
- WRITTEN AT SWANDLING BAR, IN THE COUNTY OF CAVAN, IN IRELAND. ()
- WRITTEN FROM BATH TO A FRIEND IN THE COUNTRY, IN THE YEAR 1783. ()
- WRITTEN IN IRELAND. ()
- WRITTEN ON EASTER DAY. ()
- WRITTEN ON NEW YEAR'S DAY. ()
- THE XXIIID PSALM. ()