One night, as he lay moaning in his sleep, A Robber entered; and, struck dumb with fear, The fretful Wife, too frightened e'en to weep, Sprang to her Husband's arms, and, sheltered there, Defied all sorrow, trouble, danger near, As her heart softened, and burst forth the tear.
"Friend Robber," said the Husband, "but for thee I had not known this boundless happiness. Take all I have,--I give thee liberty; Take house and all, to prove my gratitude." Thieves with much modesty are not endued; The Robber took sufficient, I confess.
From this I argue that fear is so strong, It conquers hatred, and love, too, sometimes. Yet love has triumphed over passion's throng: Witness the lover, who his house burnt down, So he might win Hope's brightest laurel crown, By rescuing her, the lady he'd loved long, And so secure her heart. I like the story: It strikes my fancy very pleasantly; It is so Spanish in its tone. I glory In love, so chivalrous and mettlesome, And hold it grand (so will all times to come). 'Twas not by any means insanity.
Our lives are spoiled by demons twain; Turn in, turn out; by each, in season; By each with reckless force is slain That which we mortals call our <i>reason</i>. And if you ask their name and state, I'll name god Love, the potentate, For one; and for the other, I'll name Ambition, Love's half-brother, Who, not seldom, Love defeats, And reigns within his choicest seats, All this I soon could prove; but now That which I wish to tell is how A Shepherd by a King was sent for, And what this royal deed was meant for. The tale belongs to distant ages, And not to those which fill these pages. A numerous flock that filled the plain, And brought the owner heaps of gain, Through Shepherd's care and industry, Once met a sapient's Monarch's eye. Pleased with such skill and thrift, he said, "Good Shepherd, to rule men thou'rt bred; Leave now thy sheep. Come, follow me; Accept my widest satrapy. And so our Shepherd, who before Had scarce had friend but hermit poor, And very seldom had in view Aught but his sheep and wolf or two, Was with a viceroy's sceptre graced; Nor was he by this change misplaced, For Nature had endowed his mind With funds of great good sense; And how to govern human kind He amply learned from thence.