Page:An Essay on Man - Pope (1751).pdf/42

 To bless alike by that direction tend, And find the means proportion'd to their end. Say, where full instinct is th' unerring guide, What pope or council can they need beside! Reason, however able, cool at best, Cares not for service, or but serves when prest; Stays till we call, and then not often near; But honest instinct comes a volunteer; Sure never to o'er-shoot, but just to hit, While still too wide or short is human wit; Sure by quick nature happiness to gain, Which heavier reason labours at in vain. This too serves always, reason never long; One must go right, the other may go wrong. See then the acting and comparing pow'rs, One in their nature, which are two in ours, And reason raise o'er instinct as you can, In this 'tis directs, in that 'tis man. taught the nations of the field and wood To shun their poison, and to chuse their food? Prescient, the tides or tempests to withstand, Build on the wave, or arch beneath the sand? Who made the spider parallels design, Sure as, without rule or line? Who bid the stork, -like, explore Heav'ns not his own, and worlds unknown before? Who calls the council, states the certain day, Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way?