Page:The lives of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift - Volume 4.djvu/64

54 That from the womb, we take our fatal ſhares, Of follies, faſhions, labours, tumults, cares; And at approach of death ſhall only know, The truths which from theſe penſive numbers flow, That we purſue falſe joy, and ſuffer real woe. After an enquiry into, and an excellent deſcription of the various operations, and effects of nature, the ſyſtem of the heavens, &c. and not being fully informed of them, the firſt Book concludes,

In the ſecond Book the uncertainty, diſappointment, and vexation attending pleaſure in general, are admirably deſcribed; and in the character of Solomon is ſufficiently ſhewn, that nothing debaſes majeſty, or indeed any man, more than ungovernable paſſion.

The third Book treats particularly of the trouble and inſtability of greatneſs and power,