OF RIDICULE. SEAMS of thought for the sage's brow, and laughing lines for the fool's face; For all things leave their track in the mind; and the glass of the mind is faithful. Seest thou much mirth upon the cheek? there is then little exercise of virtue; For he that looketh on the world cannot be glad and good: Seest thou much gravity in the eye? be not assured of finding wisdom; There is a grave-faced folly; and verily, a laughter-loving wisdom: There is indeed an evil in excess, and a field may lie fallow too long; tenance; Justly the deepest pools are proved by dimpling eddies; For that a true philosophy commandeth an innocent life, The eye is bright with trust, the cheek bloomed over with affection, The brow unwrinkled by a care, and the lip triumphant in its gladness AND for yon grave-faced folly, need not far to look for her How ruefully she sigheth after chances long gone by, How sulkily she moaneth over evils without cure! I have known a true-born mirth, the child of innocence and wisdom, But when its breast is healed, it runneth gladly with its fellows: Holdeth aloof from the social world, intent on wiles and death. NEED but of light philosophy to dare the world's dread laugh; The laugh of a hooting world hath in it a notion of sublimity, Some have commended ridicule, counting it the test of truth, (25) A droll conceit parrieth a thrust that should have hit the conscience, Neither can he long endure the searching gaze of wisdom. It is pleasanter to see a laughing cheek than a serious forehead, But common men are cowards, and dread an empty laugh. Fear a nettle, and touch it tenderly, its poison shall burn thee to the shoulder; But grasp it with bold hand,—is it not a bundle of myrrn? Betray mean terror of ridicule, thou shalt find fools enough to mock thee; But answer thou their laughter with contempt. and the scoffers will lick thy feet. OF COMMENDATION. ; THE praise of holy men is a promise of praise from their Master To tell thee the chords of thy heart are in tune with the choirs of heaven. ber, And the cordial quaffed with thirst may generate the fumes of presump tion. So seek it not for itself, but taste, and go gladly on thy way, For the mariner slacketh not his sail, though the sandal-groves of Araby allure him; And the fragrance of that incense would harm thee, as when, on a summer evening, The honied yellow flowers of the broom oppress thy charmed sense: And a man hath too much of praise, for he praiseth himself continually; Neither lacketh he at any time self-commendation or excuse. PRAISE a fool, and slay him: for the canvass of his vanity is spread; And is glad when his course is cheered by the sympathy of brethren ashore. The praise of a good man is good, for he holdeth up the mirror of Trutn, That Virtue may see her own beauty, and delight in her own fair face: The praise of a bad man is evil, for he hideth the deformity of Vice, Casting the mantle of a queen around the limbs of a leper. Praise is rebuke to the man whose conscience alloweth it not: And where conscience feeleth it her due, no praise is better than a little. He that despiseth the outward appearance, despiseth the esteem of his fellows; And he that overmuch regardeth it, shall earn only their contempt: The honest commendation of an equal no one can scorn, and be blameless, Yet even that fair fame no one can hunt for and be honoured: If it come, accept it and be thankful, and be thou humble in accepting; If it tarry, be not thou cast down; the bee can gather honey out of rue: And is thine aim so low, that the breath of those around thee Can speed thy feathered arrow, or retard its flight? The child shooteth at a butterfly, but the man's mark is an eagle; And while his fellows talk, he hath conquered in the clouds. Ally thee to truth and godliness, and use the talents in thy charge; With a friend, praise him when thou canst; for many a friendship hath decayed, Like a plant in a crowded corner, for want of sunshine on its leaves: ment: For thou that dost so zealously commend, art acknowledging thine own inferiority, And he, thou so highly hast exalted, shall proudly look down on thy es teem. WILT thou that one remember a thing?—praise him in the midst of thy advice; Never yet forgat man the word whereby he hath been praised. Better to be censured by a thousand fools, than approved but by one man that is wise; For the pious are slower to help right, than the profane to hinder it: |