How blest is he who in his _age_, exempt From fortune's frowns, and from the troublous strife Of storms that harass still the private life, "Below ambition, and above contempt," Hath gain'd a quiet harbour, where he may Look back on shipwrecks past, without a sigh For busier scenes, and hope's gay dreams gone by! And such a nook of blessedness, they say, Your Sire at length has found; while you, best Child, Content in _his_ contentment, acquiesce In patient toils; and in a station less, Than you might image, when your prospects smiled. In your meek virtues there is found a calm, That on his life's soft evening sheds a balm. TO SARAH JAMES OF BEGUILDY _Acrostic_ Sleep hath treasures worth retracing: Are you not in slumbers pacing Round your native spot at times, And seem to hear Beguildy's chimes? Hold the airy vision fast; Joy is but a dream at last: And what was so fugitive, Memory only makes to live. Even from troubles past we borrow Some thoughts that may lighten sorrow, Onwards as we pace through life, Fainting under care or strife, By the magic of a thought Every object back is brought Gayer than it was when real, Under influence ideal. In remembrance as a glass, Let your happy childhood pass; Dreaming so in fancy's spells, You still shall hear those old church bells. TO EMMA BUTTON _Acrostic_ EMMA, eldest of your name, Meekly trusting in her God Midst the red-hot plough-shares trod, And unscorch'd preserved her fame. By that test if _you_ were tried, Ugly flames might be defied; Though devouring fire's a glutton, Through the trial you might go "On the light fantastic toe," Nor for plough-shares care a BUTTON. WRITTEN UPON THE COVER OF A BLOTTING BOOK Blank tho' I be, within you'll find Relics of th' enraptured mind: Where truth and fable, mirth and wit, Are safely here deposited. The placid, furious, envious, wise, Impart to me their secresies; Here hidden thoughts in blotted line Nor sybil can the sense divine; Lethe and I twin sisters be-- Then, stranger, open me and see. * * * * * POLITICAL AND OTHER EPIGRAMS TO SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH (1801)