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— William Blake

Does the Eagle know what is in the pit?

Or wilt thou go ask the Mole:

Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod?

Or Love in a golden bowl?

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noun

One who, or that which, accelerates.

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SECOND PROPHET.

22 lines
Oliver Goldsmith·1728–1774
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Recitative._ Yet, why complain? What though by bonds confined,Should bonds repress the vigour of the mind?Have we not cause for triumph, when we seeOurselves alone from idol-worship free?Are not, this very morn, those feasts begun,Where prostrate Error hails the rising sun?Do not our tyrant lords this day ordainFor superstitious rites and mirth profane?And should we mourn? Should coward Virtue fly,When vaunting Folly lifts her head on high?No! rather let us triumph still the more,And as our fortune sinks, our spirits soar. _Air._ The triumphs that on vice attendShall ever in confusion end:The good man suffers but to gain,And every virtue springs from pain:As aromatic plants bestowNo spicy fragrance while they grow;But crush'd or trodden to the ground,Diffuse their balmy sweets around.
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