To these thy slaves, as thine excess to thee. Amid this tribe too oft a manly pride Strives in strong toil the fainting heart to hide; There may you see the youth of slender frame Contend with weakness, weariness, and shame; Yet, urged along, and proudly loth to yield, He strives to join his fellows of the field; Till long-contending nature droops at last, 160 Declining health rejects his poor repast, His cheerless spouse the coming danger sees, And mutual murmurs urge the slow disease. Yet grant them health, 'tis not for us to tell, Though the head droops not, that the heart is well; Or will you praise that homely, healthy fare, Plenteous and plain, that happy peasants share? Oh! trifle not with wants you cannot feel, Nor mock the misery of a stinted meal-- Homely, not wholesome; plain, not plenteous; such 170 As you who praise would never deign to touch. Ye gentle souls, who dream of rural ease, Whom the smooth stream and smoother sonnet please; Go! if the peaceful cot your praises share, Go, look within, and ask if peace be there: If peace be his--that drooping weary sire, Or theirs, that offspring round their feeble fire; Or hers, that matron pale, whose trembling hand Turns on the wretched hearth th' expiring brand! Nor yet can Time itself obtain for these 180 Life's latest comforts, due respect and ease: For yonder see that hoary swain, whose age Can with no cares except his own engage; Who, propp'd on that rude staff, looks up to see The bare arms broken from the withering tree, On which, a boy, he climb'd the loftiest bough, Then his first joy, but his sad emblem now. He once was chief in all the rustic trade; His steady hand the straightest furrow made; Full many a prize he won, and still is proud 190 To find the triumphs of his youth allow'd. A transient pleasure sparkles in his eyes; He hears and smiles, then thinks again and sighs: For now he journeys to his grave in pain; The rich disdain him, nay, the poor disdain; Alternate masters now their slave command, Urge the weak efforts of his feeble hand; And, when his age attempts its task in vain, With ruthless taunts, of lazy poor complain[15]. Oft may you see him, when he tends the sheep, 200 His winter-charge, beneath the hillock weep; Oft hear him murmur to the winds that blow O'er his white locks and bury them in snow, When, roused by rage and muttering in the morn, He mends the broken hedge with icy thorn:-- "Why do I live, when I desire to be At once from life and life's long labour free? Like leaves in spring, the young are blown away, Without the sorrows of a slow decay; I, like yon wither'd leaf, remain behind, 210 Nipp'd by the frost, and shivering in the wind; There it abides till younger buds come on,