A brave man struggling in the storms of fate, And greatly falling with a falling state. While Cato gives his little senate laws, What bosom beats not in his countrys cause?
Note 2. His wit invites you by his looks to come, But when you knock, it never is at home. William Cowper: Conversation, line 303. [back]
Note 3. Ampliat ætatis spatium sibi vir bonus; hoc est Vivere bis vita posse priore frui (The good man prolongs his life; to be able to enjoy ones past life is to live twice).Martial, x. 237.
Note 4. From Roscoes edition of Pope, vol. v. p. 376; originally printed in Mottes Miscellanies, 1727. In the edition of 1736 Pope says, I must own that the prose part (the Thought on Various Subjects), at the end of the second volume, was wholly mine. January, 1734. [back]