Each beast, each infect, happy in its own: Is Heaven unkind to Man, and Man alone? Be pleas'd with nothing, if not bleft with all ? No powers of body or of foul to fhare, But what his nature and his ftate can bear. For this plain reason, Man is not a Fly. 185 190 Say what the ufe, were finer optics given, 195 T' infpect a mite, not comprehend the heaven? To smart and agonize at every pore? Or quick effluvia darting through the brain, 200 If nature thunder'd in his opening ears, And stunn'd him with the music of the spheres, VII. Far as Creation's ample range extends, 205 210 Of Of hearing, from the life that fills the flood, Remembrance and Reflection how allied; What thin partitions Sense from Thought divide! 215 220 225 230 VIII. See, through this air, this ocean, and this earth, All matter quick, and bursting into birth. 235 240 From Ver. 238. Ed. ift. VARIATION. Ethereal effence, fpirit, fubftance, man. From thee to Nothing.-On superior powers Were we to prefs, inferior might on ours; Or in the full Creation leave a void, Where, one step broken, the great scale's deftroy'd : From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, 245 That fyftem only, but the Whole must fall. 250 255 IX. What if the foot, ordain'd the duft to tread, Or hand, to toil, afpir'd to be the head? All are but parts of one ftupendous whole, 260 265 270 Warms Warms in the fun, refreshes in the breeze, Breathes in our foul, informs our mortal part, As full, as perfect, in vile Man that mourns, All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee; 275 280 285 All Chance, Direction, which thou canst not fee; 290 All Difcord, Harmony not understood : All partial Evil, universal Good. And, fpite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite, VARIATION. After ver. 282. in the MS. Reason, to think of God, when she pretends, Begins a Cenfor, an Adorer ends. ARGUMENT OF EPISTLE II. Of the Nature and State of Man with respect to Himfelf, as an Individual. I. THE bufiness of Man not to pry into God, but to study himself. His Middle Nature: his Powers and Frailties, ver. 1 to 19. The Limits of his Capacity, ver. 19, &c. II. The two Principles of Man, Self-love and Reason, both neceffary, ver. 53, &c. Self-love the stronger, and why, ver. 67, &c. Their end the fame, ver. 81, &c. III. The Paffions, and their ufe, ver. 93 to 130. The Predominant Paffion, and its force, ver. 132 to 160. Its Neceffity, in directing Men to different purposes, ver. 165, &c. Its providential Use, in fixing our Principle, and afcertaining our Virtue, ver. 177. IV. Virtue and Vice joined in our mixed Nature; the limits near, yet the things feparate and evident: What is the Office of Reason, ver. 202 to 216. V. How odious Vice in itfelf, and how we deceive ourselves into it, ver. 217. VI. That, however, the Ends of Providence and general Good are answered in our Paffions and Imperfections, ver. 238, &c. How usefully these are diftributed to all Orders of Men, ver. 241. How ufeful they are to Society, ver. 251. And to Individuals, ver. 263. In every ftate, and every age of life, ver. 273, &c. EPISTLE |