Expos'd their inexperience to the snare, And left them to an undirected choice. See then the quiver broken and decay'd, What wonder, if, discharg'd into the world, Have we not track'd the felon home, and found His birthplace and his dam? The country mourns, Mourns because ev'ry plague, that can infest Society, and that saps and worms the base Of th' edifice, that policy has rais'd, Swarms in all quarters: meets the eye, the ear, And suffocates the breath at ev'ry turn. 820 Profusion breeds them; and the cause itself And the land stank-so num'rous was the fry. 832 THE ARGUMENT. Self-recollection, and reproof.—Address to domestic happiness.-Some account of myself.-The vanity of many of their pursuits, who are reputed wise.-Justification of my censures.-Divine illumination necessary to the most expert philosopher.—The question, What is truth? answered by other questions.-Domestic happiness addressed again.-Few lovers of the country. My tame hare.-Occupations of a retired gentleman in his garden.--Pruning.-Framing.-Greenhouse.-Sowing of flower seeds.-The country preferable to the town even in the winter.— Reasons why it is deserted at that season.-Ruinous effects of gaming and of expensive improvement.— Book concludes with an apostrophe to the metropolis. THE TASK. As BOOK III. THE GARDEN. one, who long in thickets and in brakes If chance at length he find a greensward smooth He cherups brisk his ear-erecting steed, And winds his way with pleasure and with ease; So I, designing other themes, and call'd T' adorn the Sofa with eulogium due, To tell it's slumbers, and to paint it's dreams, |