SATYR.
61
Begotten with a vain Caprich,
80 And live as vainly to that Pitch.
Our Pains are real Things, and all
Our Pleasures but fantastical;
Diseases of their own Accord,
But Cures come difficult and hard;
85 Our noblest Piles, and stateliest Rooms
Are but Out-houses to our Tombs;
Cities, though e're so great and brave,
But mere Ware-houses to the Grave;
Our Bravery's but a vain Disguise,
90 To hide us from the World's dull Eyes,
The Remedy of a Defect,
With which our Nakedness is deckt;
Yet makes us swell with Pride, and boast,
As if w' had gain'd by being lost.
95 All this is nothing to the Evils,
Which Men, and their confed'rate Devils
Inflict, to aggravate the Curse
On their own hated Kind, much worse;
As if by Nature th' had been serv'd
100 More gently, than their Fate deserv'd,
80 And live as vainly to that Pitch.
Our Pains are real Things, and all
Our Pleasures but fantastical;
Diseases of their own Accord,
But Cures come difficult and hard;
85 Our noblest Piles, and stateliest Rooms
Are but Out-houses to our Tombs;
Cities, though e're so great and brave,
But mere Ware-houses to the Grave;
Our Bravery's but a vain Disguise,
90 To hide us from the World's dull Eyes,
The Remedy of a Defect,
With which our Nakedness is deckt;
Yet makes us swell with Pride, and boast,
As if w' had gain'd by being lost.
95 All this is nothing to the Evils,
Which Men, and their confed'rate Devils
Inflict, to aggravate the Curse
On their own hated Kind, much worse;
As if by Nature th' had been serv'd
100 More gently, than their Fate deserv'd,
express'd by the Word Bravery. This Observation upon the Vanity and Folly of being proud of Dress, which is only a Consequence of our Fall, is not peculiar to Butler; but he has made it his own by the Manner of expressing it.
131.
