Of Compensation. From Proverbial Philosophy Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOL PHDQRSTUUVLUHUHJHW UJXKCYXXXXHXLJUJXXU XUXUZUA2XXHJB2UUC2U XZD2XD2XD2E2F2XQXXG2 XH2XZG2XXLXXLZD2AXD2 UXXC2XXL LEqual is the government of heaven in allotting pleasures among men | A |
And just the everlasting law that hath wedded happiness to virtue | B |
For verily on all things else broodeth disappointment with care | C |
That childish man may be taught the shallowness of earthly enjoyment | D |
Wherefore ye that have enough envy ye the rich man his abundance | E |
Wherefore daughters of affluence covet ye the cottager's content | F |
Take the good with the evil for ye all are pensioners of God | G |
And none may choose or refuse the cup His wisdom mixeth | H |
The poor man rejoiceth at his toil and his daily meat is sweet to him | I |
Content with present good he looketh not for evil to the future | J |
The rich man languisheth with sloth and findeth pleasure in nothing | K |
He locketh up care with his gold and feareth the fickleness of fortune | L |
Can a cup contain within itself the measure of a bucket | M |
Or the straitened appetites of man drink more than their fill of luxury | N |
There is a limit to enjoyment though the sources of wealth be boundless | O |
And the choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation | L |
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Also though penury and pain be real and bitter evils | P |
I would reason with the poor afflicted for he is not so wretched as he seemeth | H |
What right hath an offender to complain though others escape punishment | D |
If the stripes of earned misfortune overtake him in his sin | Q |
Wherefore not endure with resignation the evils thou canst not avert | R |
For the coward pain will flee if thou meet him as a man | S |
Consider whatever be thy fate that it might and ought to have been worse | T |
And that it lieth in thy hand to gather even blessing from afflictions | U |
Bethink thee wherefore were they sent and hath not use blunted their keenness | U |
Need hope and patience and courage be strangers to the meanest hovel | V |
Thou art in an evil case it were cruel to deny to thee compassion | L |
But there is not unmitigated ill in the sharpest of this world's sorrows | U |
I touch not the sore of thy guilt but of human griefs I counsel thee | H |
Cast off the weakness of regret and gird thee to redeem thy loss | U |
Thou hast gained in the furnace of affliction self knowledge patience and humility | H |
And these be as precious ore that waiteth the skill of the coiner | J |
Despise not the blessings of adversity nor the gain thou hast earned so hardly | H |
And now thou hast drained the bitter take heed that thou lose not the sweet | W |
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Power is seldom innocent and envy is the yoke fellow of eminence | U |
And the rust of the miser's riches wasteth his soul as a canker | J |
The poor man counteth not the cost at which such wealth hath been purchased | X |
He would be on the mountain's top without the toil and travail of the climbing | K |
But equity demandeth recompense for high place calumny and care | C |
For state comfortless splendour eating out the heart of home | Y |
For warrior fame dangers and death for a name among the learned a spirit overstrained | X |
For honour of all kinds the goad of ambition on every acquirement the tax of anxiety | X |
He that would change with another must take the cup as it is mixed | X |
Poverty with largeness of heart or a full purse with a sordid spirit | X |
Wisdom in an ailing body or a common mind with health | H |
Godliness with man's scorn or the welcome of the mighty with guilt | X |
Beauty with a fickle heart or plainness of face with affection | L |
For so hath Providence determined that a man shall not easily discover | J |
Unmingled good or evil to quicken his envy or abhorrence | U |
A bold man or a fool must he be who would change his lot with another | J |
It were a fearful bargain and mercy hath lovingly refused it | X |
For we know the worst of ourselves but the secrets of another we see not | X |
And better is certain bad than the doubt and dread of worse | U |
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Just and strong and opportune is the moral rule of God | X |
Ripe in its times firm in its judgments equal in the measure of its gifts | U |
Yet men scanning the surface count the wicked happy | X |
Nor heed the compensating peace which gladdeneth the good in his afflictions | U |
They see not the frightful dreams that crowd a bad man's pillow | Z |
Like wreathed adders crawling round his midnight conscience | U |
They hear not the terrible suggestions that knock at the portal of his will | A2 |
Provoking to wipe away from life the one weak witness of the deed | X |
They know not the torturing suspicious that sting his panting breast | X |
When the clear eye of penetration quietly readeth off the truth | H |
Likewise of the good what know they the memories bringing pleasure | J |
Shrined in the heart of the benevolent and glistening from his eye | B2 |
The calm self justifying reason that establisheth the upright in his purpose | U |
The warm and gushing bliss that floodeth all the thoughts of the religious | U |
Many a beggar at the cross way or grey haired shepherd on the plain | C2 |
Hath more of the end of all wealth than hundreds who multiply the means | U |
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Moreover a moral compensation reacheth to the secrecy of thought | X |
For if thou wilt think evil of thy neighbour soon shalt thou have him for thy foe | Z |
And yet he may know nothing of the cause that maketh thee distasteful to his soul | D2 |
The cause of unkind suspicion for which thou hast thy punishment | X |
And if thou think of him in charity wishing or praying for his weal | D2 |
He shall not guess the secret charm that lureth his soul to love thee | X |
For just is retributive ubiquity Samson did sin with Dalilah | D2 |
And his eyes and captive strength were forfeit to the Philistine | E2 |
Jacob robbed his brother and sorrow was his portion to the grave | F2 |
David must fly before his foes yea though his guilt is covered | X |
And He who seeming old in youth was marred for others' sin | Q |
For every special crime must bear its special penalty | X |
By luxury or rashness or vice the member that hath erred suffereth | X |
And therefore the Sacrifice for all was pained at every pore | G2 |
Alike to the slave and his oppressor cometh night with sweet refreshment | X |
And half of the life of the most wretched is gladdened by the soothings of sleep | H2 |
Pain addeth zest unto pleasure and teacheth the luxury of health | X |
There is a joy in sorrow which none hut a mourner can know | Z |
Madness hath imaginary bliss and most men have no more | G2 |
Age hath its quiet cahn and youth enjoyeth not for haste | X |
Daily in the midst of its beatitude the righteous soul is vexed | X |
And even the misery of guilt doth attain to the bliss of pardon | L |
Who in the face of the born blind ever looked on other than content | X |
And the deaf ear listeneth within to the silent music of the heart | X |
There is evil poured upon the earth from the overflowings of corruption | L |
Sickness and poverty and pain and guilt and madness and sorrow | Z |
But as the water from a fountain riseth and sinketh to its level | D2 |
Ceaselessly toileth justice to equalize the lots of men | A |
For habit and hope and ignorance and the being hut one of a multitude | X |
And strength of reason in the sage and dulness of feeling in the fool | D2 |
And the light elasticity of courage and the calm resignation of meekness | U |
And the stout endurance of decision and the weak carelessness of apathy | X |
And helps invisible but real and ministerings not unfelt | X |
Angelic aid with worldly discomfiture bodily loss with the soul's gain | C2 |
Secret griefs and silent joys thorns in the flesh and cordials for the spirit | X |
Short of the insuperable barrier dividing innocence from guilt | X |
Go far to level all things by the gracious rule of Compensation | L |
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Transcribed from Proverbial Philosophy by Mick Puttock August Spelling punctuation and grammer left mostly unchanged from the th edition | L |
Martin Farquhar Tupper
(1)
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