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On the Nature of Man.
A mouse, great God, the sages all declare
Creation's end: A work beyond compare!
Vicious are cats, to eat us much inclined,
But 'tis from error to reclaim our kind."
Not far a multitude of geese are seen,
Drawn up near woods and streams upon the green;
Of pampered turkeys, troops that strut in state,
And flocks that bend beneath their fleeces' weight,
They cried: "The universe is ours alone,
Whatever the Almighty made, we own."
In the clear watery image whilst he grazed,
The ass his beauty saw, and was amazed.
He cries: "For asses God has made the earth,
Man still attends me, he's my slave from birth;
He curries, washes me, and, more, to please,
Builds my seraglio, for my joys purveys;
And happy to procure me soft delight,
Brings a she-ass to crown my bliss at night:
Often I laugh when I behold him pass,
With haughty airs, as if he were an ass."
Man came the next, his plea was much the same,
He cried: "Heaven, earth, and elements, I claim:
To waft me ocean rolls and winds arise;
To give me light, stars glitter in the skies;
Night's argent globe through heaven's clear azure glides,
Increases, wanes, and o'er the stars presides;
O'er all presides my vast, capacious mind,
In the wide universe too close confined:
Creation's end: A work beyond compare!
Vicious are cats, to eat us much inclined,
But 'tis from error to reclaim our kind."
Not far a multitude of geese are seen,
Drawn up near woods and streams upon the green;
Of pampered turkeys, troops that strut in state,
And flocks that bend beneath their fleeces' weight,
They cried: "The universe is ours alone,
Whatever the Almighty made, we own."
In the clear watery image whilst he grazed,
The ass his beauty saw, and was amazed.
He cries: "For asses God has made the earth,
Man still attends me, he's my slave from birth;
He curries, washes me, and, more, to please,
Builds my seraglio, for my joys purveys;
And happy to procure me soft delight,
Brings a she-ass to crown my bliss at night:
Often I laugh when I behold him pass,
With haughty airs, as if he were an ass."
Man came the next, his plea was much the same,
He cried: "Heaven, earth, and elements, I claim:
To waft me ocean rolls and winds arise;
To give me light, stars glitter in the skies;
Night's argent globe through heaven's clear azure glides,
Increases, wanes, and o'er the stars presides;
O'er all presides my vast, capacious mind,
In the wide universe too close confined:
