Page:An Ode to the Country Gentlemen of England - Akenside (1758).djvu/11

 Meantime by pleasure's sophistry allur'd, From the bright sun and living breeze ye stray; And deep in London's gloomy haunts immur'd, Brood o'er your fortune's, freedom's, health's decay. O blind of choice and to yourselves untrue! The young grove shoots, their bloom the fields renew, The mansion asks its lord, the swains their friend; While he doth riot's orgies haply share, Or tempt the gamester's dark, destroying snare, Or at some courtly shrine with slavish incense bend.

And yet full oft your anxious tongues complain That lawless tumult prompts the rustic throng; That the rude village-inmates now disdain Those homely ties which rul'd their fathers long. Alas, your fathers did by other arts Draw those kind ties around their simple hearts, And led in other paths their ductile will; By succour, faithful counsel, courteous cheer, Won them the ancient manners to revere, To prize their country's peace and heav'n's due rites fulfill. Rh