Page:Tale of Paraguay - Southey.djvu/30

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Fair promise be this triumph of an age When Man, with vain desires no longer blind, And wise though late, his only war shall wage Against the miseries which afflict mankind. Striving with virtuous heart and strenuous mind Till evil from the earth shall pass away. Lo, this his glorious destiny assign'd! For that blest consummation let us pray, And trust in fervent faith, and labour as we may.

The hideous malady which lost its power When Jenner's art the dire contagion stay'd, Among Columbia's sons, in fatal hour. Across the wide Atlantic wave convey'd Its fiercest form of pestilence display'd: Where'er its deadly course the plague began Vainly the wretched sufferer look'd for aid; Parent from child, and child from parent ran. For tyrannous fear dissolved all natural bonds of man.