Moral Essays. Epistle I.--to Sir Richard Temple, Lord Cobham Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A B CD EEFFG HH IIJJKKLLMN KKOO PPQQRRSS TTUUVV WWJJXXYYZZA2A2B2B2 UC2D2D2E2E2F2F2G2G2T T EEE2E2DH2VI2 J2J2K2K2HH GGJ2J2 L2M2N2N2N2N2 C2O2P2Q2N2N2R2R2 S2S2N2N2 H2H2T2N2U2U2N2N2N2N2 N2N2N2N2N2N2GGVV QQV2V2DDGGN2N2N2N2W2 W2X2Y2 Z2Z2A3A3B3B3N2N2C3C3 G2G2CC N2N2D3CGGCCCE3E3C2C2 F3F3N2N2 F3F3F3F3G3G3 F3F3 UUP2H3N2N2F3F3F3F3I3 I3N2N2F3F3D3CN2N2N2N 2F3F3N2N2N2N2F3F3N2N 2R2R2 LL JJRRF3F3F3F3J3J3K3L3 M3M3N2N2F3F3 N2N2N2N2 F3F3N2N2F3F3 N2N2E2 N2N2F3F3 I3F3F3N2 N2N2C N2 H N2N2 N3N3N2 N2 F3 F3 N2N2N2N2 F3 N2N2W2W2 C L| ARGUMENT | A |
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| OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND CHARACTERS OF MEN | B |
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| That it is not sufficient for this knowledge to consider man in the abstract books will not serve the purpose nor yet our own experience singly ver General maxims unless they be formed upon both will be but notional ver Some peculiarity in every man characteristic to himself yet varying from himself ver Difficulties arising from our own passions fancies faculties c ver The shortness of life to observe in and the uncertainty of the principles of action in men to observe by ver c Our own principle of action often hid from ourselves ver Some few characters plain but in general confounded dissembled or inconsistent ver The same man utterly different in different places and seasons ver Unimaginable weaknesses in the greatest ver c Nothing constant and certain but God and nature ver No judging of the motives from the actions the same actions proceeding from contrary motives and the same motives influencing contrary actions ver II Yet to form characters we can only take the strongest actions of a man's life and try to make them agree the utter uncertainty of this from nature itself and from policy ver Characters given according to the rank of men of the world ver And some reason for it ver Education alters the nature or at least character of many ver Actions passions opinions manners humours or principles all subject to change No judging by nature from ver to III It only remains to find if we can his ruling passion that will certainly influence all the rest and can reconcile the seeming or real inconsistency of all his actions ver Instanced in the extraordinary character of Clodio ver A caution against mistaking second qualities for first which will destroy all possibility of the knowledge of mankind ver | C |
| Examples of the strength of the ruling passion and its continuation to the last breath ver c | D |
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| Yes you despise the man to books confined | E |
| Who from his study rails at human kind | E |
| Though what he learns he speaks and may advance | F |
| Some general maxims or be right by chance | F |
| The coxcomb bird so talkative and grave | G |
| That from his cage cries 'Cuckold ' 'Whore ' and 'Knave ' | - |
| Though many a passenger he rightly call | H |
| You hold him no philosopher at all | H |
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| And yet the fate of all extremes is such | I |
| Men may be read as well as books too much | I |
| To observations which ourselves we make | J |
| We grow more partial for the observer's sake | J |
| To written wisdom as another's less | K |
| Maxims are drawn from notions those from guess | K |
| There's some peculiar in each leaf and grain | L |
| Some unmark'd fibre or some varying vein | L |
| Shall only man be taken in the gross | M |
| Grant but as many sorts of mind as moss | N |
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| That each from other differs first confess | K |
| Next that he varies from himself no less | K |
| Add nature's custom's reason's passion's strife | O |
| And all opinion's colours cast on life | O |
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| Our depths who fathoms or our shallows finds | P |
| Quick whirls and shifting eddies of our minds | P |
| On human actions reason though you can | Q |
| It may be reason but it is not man | Q |
| His principle of action once explore | R |
| That instant 'tis his principle no more | R |
| Like following life through creatures you dissect | S |
| You lose it in the moment you detect | S |
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| Yet more the difference is as great between | T |
| The optics seeing as the objects seen | T |
| All manners take a tincture from our own | U |
| Or come discolour'd through our passions shown | U |
| Or fancy's beam enlarges multiplies | V |
| Contracts inverts and gives ten thousand dyes | V |
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| Nor will life's stream for observation stay | W |
| It hurries all too fast to mark their way | W |
| In vain sedate reflections we would make | J |
| When half our knowledge we must snatch not take | J |
| Oft in the passions' wild rotation toss'd | X |
| Our spring of action to ourselves is lost | X |
| Tired not determined to the last we yield | Y |
| And what comes then is master of the field | Y |
| As the last image of that troubled heap | Z |
| When sense subsides and fancy sports in sleep | Z |
| Though past the recollection of the thought | A2 |
| Becomes the stuff of which our dream is wrought | A2 |
| Something as dim to our internal view | B2 |
| Is thus perhaps the cause of most we do | B2 |
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| True some are open and to all men known | U |
| Others so very close they're hid from none | C2 |
| So darkness strikes the sense no less than light | D2 |
| Thus gracious Chandos is beloved at sight | D2 |
| And every child hates Shylock though his soul | E2 |
| Still sits at squat and peeps not from its hole | E2 |
| At half mankind when generous Manly raves | F2 |
| All know 'tis virtue for he thinks them knaves | F2 |
| When universal homage Umbra pays | G2 |
| All see 'tis vice and itch of vulgar praise | G2 |
| When flattery glares all hate it in a queen | T |
| While one there is who charms us with his spleen | T |
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| But these plain characters we rarely find | E |
| Though strong the bent yet quick the turns of mind | E |
| Or puzzling contraries confound the whole | E2 |
| Or affectations quite reverse the soul | E2 |
| The dull flat falsehood serves for policy | D |
| And in the cunning truth itself's a lie | H2 |
| Unthought of frailties cheat us in the wise | V |
| The fool lies hid in inconsistencies | I2 |
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| See the same man in vigour in the gout | J2 |
| Alone in company in place or out | J2 |
| Early at business and at hazard late | K2 |
| Mad at a fox chase wise at a debate | K2 |
| Drunk at a borough civil at a ball | H |
| Friendly at Hackney faithless at Whitehall | H |
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| Catius is ever moral ever grave | G |
| Thinks who endures a knave is next a knave | G |
| Save just at dinner then prefers no doubt | J2 |
| A rogue with venison to a saint without | J2 |
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| Who would not praise Patricio's high desert | L2 |
| His hand unstain'd his uncorrupted heart | M2 |
| His comprehensive head all interests weigh'd | N2 |
| All Europe saved yet Britain not betray'd | N2 |
| He thanks you not his pride is in picquet | N2 |
| Newmarket fame and judgment at a bet | N2 |
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| What made says Montaigne or more sage Charron | C2 |
| Otho a warrior Cromwell a buffoon | O2 |
| A perjured prince a leaden saint revere | P2 |
| A godless regent tremble at a star | Q2 |
| The throne a bigot keep a genius quit | N2 |
| Faithless through piety and duped through wit | N2 |
| Europe a woman child or dotard rule | R2 |
| And just her wisest monarch made a fool | R2 |
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| Know God and Nature only are the same | S2 |
| In man the judgment shoots at flying game | S2 |
| A bird of passage gone as soon as found | N2 |
| Now in the moon perhaps now under ground | N2 |
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| II In vain the sage with retrospective eye | H2 |
| Would from the apparent what conclude the why | H2 |
| Infer the motive from the deed and show | T2 |
| That what we chanced was what we meant to do | N2 |
| Behold if fortune or a mistress frowns | U2 |
| Some plunge in business others shave their crowns | U2 |
| To ease the soul of one oppressive weight | N2 |
| This quits an empire that embroils a state | N2 |
| The same adust complexion has impell'd | N2 |
| Charles to the convent Philip to the field | N2 |
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| Not always actions show the man we find | N2 |
| Who does a kindness is not therefore kind | N2 |
| Perhaps prosperity becalm'd his breast | N2 |
| Perhaps the wind just shifted from the east | N2 |
| Not therefore humble he who seeks retreat | N2 |
| Pride guides his steps and bids him shun the great | N2 |
| Who combats bravely is not therefore brave | G |
| He dreads a death bed like the meanest slave | G |
| Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise | V |
| His pride in reasoning not in acting lies | V |
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| But grant that actions best discover man | Q |
| Take the most strong and sort them as you can | Q |
| The few that glare each character must mark | V2 |
| You balance not the many in the dark | V2 |
| What will you do with such as disagree | D |
| Suppress them or miscall them policy | D |
| Must then at once the character to save | G |
| The plain rough hero turn a crafty knave | G |
| Alas in truth the man but changed his mind | N2 |
| Perhaps was sick in love or had not dined | N2 |
| Ask why from Britain C sar would retreat | N2 |
| C sar himself might whisper he was beat | N2 |
| Why risk the world's great empire for a punk | W2 |
| C sar perhaps might answer he was drunk | W2 |
| But sage historians 'tis your task to prove | X2 |
| One action conduct one heroic love | Y2 |
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| 'Tis from high life high characters are drawn | Z2 |
| A saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn | Z2 |
| A judge is just a chancellor juster still | A3 |
| A gownman learn'd a bishop what you will | A3 |
| Wise if a minister but if a king | B3 |
| More wise more learn'd more just more everything | B3 |
| Court virtues bear like gems the highest rate | N2 |
| Born where Heaven's influence scarce can penetrate | N2 |
| In life's low vale the soil the virtues like | C3 |
| They please as beauties here as wonders strike | C3 |
| Though the same sun with all diffusive rays | G2 |
| Blush in the rose and in the diamond blaze | G2 |
| We prize the stronger effort of his power | C |
| And justly set the gem above the flower | C |
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| 'Tis education forms the common mind | N2 |
| Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined | N2 |
| Boastful and rough your first son is a squire | D3 |
| The next a tradesman meek and much a liar | C |
| Tom struts a soldier open bold and brave | G |
| Will sneaks a scrivener an exceeding knave | G |
| Is he a Churchman then he's fond of power | C |
| A Quaker sly A Presbyterian sour | C |
| A smart free thinker all things in an hour | C |
| Ask men's opinions Scoto now shall tell | E3 |
| How trade increases and the world goes well | E3 |
| Strike off his pension by the setting sun | C2 |
| And Britain if not Europe is undone | C2 |
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| That gay free thinker a fine talker once | F3 |
| What turns him now a stupid silent dunce | F3 |
| Some god or spirit he has lately found | N2 |
| Or chanced to meet a minister that frown'd | N2 |
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| Judge we by nature Habit can efface | F3 |
| Interest o'ercome or policy take place | F3 |
| By actions those uncertainty divides | F3 |
| By passions these dissimulation hides | F3 |
| Opinions they still take a wider range | G3 |
| Find if you can in what you cannot change | G3 |
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| Manners with fortunes humours turn with climes | F3 |
| Tenets with books and principles with times | F3 |
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| III Search then the ruling passion there alone | U |
| The wild are constant and the cunning known | U |
| The fool consistent and the false sincere | P2 |
| Priests princes women no dissemblers here | H3 |
| This clue once found unravels all the rest | N2 |
| The prospect clears and Wharton stands confess'd | N2 |
| Wharton the scorn and wonder of our days | F3 |
| Whose ruling passion was the lust of praise | F3 |
| Born with whate'er could win it from the wise | F3 |
| Women and fools must like him or he dies | F3 |
| Though wondering senates hung on all he spoke | I3 |
| The club must hail him master of the joke | I3 |
| Shall parts so various aim at nothing new | N2 |
| He'll shine a Tully and a Wilmot too | N2 |
| Then turns repentant and his God adores | F3 |
| With the same spirit that he drinks and whores | F3 |
| Enough if all around him but admire | D3 |
| And now the punk applaud and now the friar | C |
| Thus with each gift of nature and of art | N2 |
| And wanting nothing but an honest heart | N2 |
| Grown all to all from no one vice exempt | N2 |
| And most contemptible to shun contempt | N2 |
| His passion still to covet general praise | F3 |
| His life to forfeit it a thousand ways | F3 |
| A constant bounty which no friend has made | N2 |
| An angel tongue which no man can persuade | N2 |
| A fool with more of wit than half mankind | N2 |
| Too rash for thought for action too refined | N2 |
| A tyrant to the wife his heart approves | F3 |
| A rebel to the very king he loves | F3 |
| He dies sad outcast of each church and state | N2 |
| And harder still flagitious yet not great | N2 |
| Ask you why Wharton broke through every rule | R2 |
| 'Twas all for fear the knaves should call him fool | R2 |
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| Nature well known no prodigies remain | L |
| Comets are regular and Wharton plain | L |
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| Yet in this search the wisest may mistake | J |
| If second qualities for first they take | J |
| When Catiline by rapine swell'd his store | R |
| When C sar made a noble dame a whore | R |
| In this the lust in that the avarice | F3 |
| Were means not ends ambition was the vice | F3 |
| That very C sar born in Scipio's days | F3 |
| Had aim'd like him by chastity at praise | F3 |
| Lucullus when frugality could charm | J3 |
| Had roasted turnips in the Sabine farm | J3 |
| In vain the observer eyes the builder's toil | K3 |
| But quite mistakes the scaffold for the pile | L3 |
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| In this one passion man can strength enjoy | M3 |
| As fits give vigour just when they destroy | M3 |
| Time that on all things lays his lenient hand | N2 |
| Yet tames not this it sticks to our last sand | N2 |
| Consistent in our follies and our sins | F3 |
| Here honest Nature ends as she begins | F3 |
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| Old politicians chew on wisdom past | N2 |
| And totter on in business to the last | N2 |
| As weak as earnest and as gravely out | N2 |
| As sober Lanesborough dancing in the gout | N2 |
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| Behold a reverend sire whom want of grace | F3 |
| Has made the father of a nameless race | F3 |
| Shoved from the wall perhaps or rudely press'd | N2 |
| By his own son that passes by unbless'd | N2 |
| Still to his wench he crawls on knocking knees | F3 |
| And envies every sparrow that he sees | F3 |
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| A salmon's belly Helluo was thy fate | N2 |
| The doctor call'd declares all help too late | N2 |
| 'Mercy ' cries Helluo 'mercy on my soul | E2 |
| Is there no hope Alas then bring the jowl ' | - |
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| The frugal crone whom praying priests attend | N2 |
| Still tries to save the hallow'd taper's end | N2 |
| Collects her breath as ebbing life retires | F3 |
| For one puff more and in that puff expires | F3 |
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| 'Odious in woollen 'twould a saint provoke ' | - |
| Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke | I3 |
| 'No let a charming chintz and Brussels lace | F3 |
| Wrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face | F3 |
| One would not sure be frightful when one's dead | N2 |
| And Betty give this cheek a little red ' | - |
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| The courtier smooth who forty years had shined | N2 |
| An humble servant to all human kind | N2 |
| Just brought out this when scarce his tongue could stir | C |
| 'If where I'm going I could serve you sir ' | - |
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| 'I give and I devise' old Euclio said | N2 |
| And sigh'd 'my lands and tenements to Ned ' | - |
| 'Your money sir ' 'My money sir what all | H |
| Why if I must' then wept 'I give it Paul ' | - |
| 'The manor sir ' 'The manor hold ' he cried | N2 |
| 'Not that I cannot part with that' and died | N2 |
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| And you brave Cobham to the latest breath | N3 |
| Shall feel your ruling passion strong in death | N3 |
| Such in those moments as in all the past | N2 |
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| 'Oh save my country Heaven ' shall be your last | N2 |
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| VARIATIONS | F3 |
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| After VER in the former editions | F3 |
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| Triumphant leaders at an army's head | N2 |
| Hemm'd round with glories pilfer cloth or bread | N2 |
| As meanly plunder as they bravely fought | N2 |
| Now save a people and now save a groat | N2 |
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| VER in the former editions | F3 |
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| Ask why from Britain C sar made retreat | N2 |
| C sar himself would tell you he was beat | N2 |
| The mighty Czar what moved to wed a punk | W2 |
| The mighty Czar would tell you he was drunk | W2 |
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| In the former editions VER | C |
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| Nature well known no miracles remain | L |
Alexander Pope
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