XXXVIII.
And as connubial, so parental love
Obey'd unerring Nature's order here,
For now no force of impious custom strove
Against her law;—such as was wont to sear
The unhappy heart with usages severe,
Till harden'd mothers in the grave could lay
Their living babes with no compunctious tear,
So monstrous men become, when from the way
Of primal light they turn thro' heathen paths astray.
XXXIX.
Deliver'd from this yoke, in them henceforth
The springs of natural love may freely flow:
New joys, new virtues with that happy birth
Are born, and with the growing infant grow.
Source of our purest happiness below
Is that benignant law which hath entwined
Dearest delight with strongest duty so
That in the healthy heart and righteous mind
Ever they co-exist, inseparably combined.
