Page:Essays - Abraham Cowley (1886).djvu/113

 And all the uncleanness which does drown In pestilential clouds a populous town? The earth itself breathes better perfumes here, Than all the female men or women there, Not without cause, about them bear.

When Epicurus to the world had taught
 * That pleasure was the chiefest good,

(And was perhaps i' th' right, if rightly understood)
 * His life he to his doctrine brought,

And in a garden's shade that sovereign pleasure sought. Whoever a true epicure would be, May there find cheap and virtuous luxury. Vitellius his table, which did hold As many creatures as the Ark of old, That fiscal table, to which every day All countries did a constant tribute pay, Could nothing more delicious afford
 * Than Nature's liberality,

Helped with a little art and industry,