Rendezvous At The Temple Of Love: Poems of Peace, Love & Whimsy

Bonds of Affection, Affection. Return Quickly, Impatience of Happiness. Majesty, Honor, Purity of Heart. Modest Genius; sometimes horror. Power, Stability, Always Reliable. Cheerfulness, Joy, Gladness, Abuse not. Majesty, Power, Pride of Birth, Arrogance. Thankfulness, Thy frown will destroy me. A sad tree representing mourning, death. Displayed as a talisman during death,despair,mourning. Regard, Respect, Chivalry, Unrequited Love. Regard, Respect, but can mean deceit, self-centered.

Chivalry, can also mean vanity if mixed with wild narcissus. Refinement, Novelty, sometimes instability. Variety, Oracle of the Meadows. Afterthoughts, Memories, Farewell, Healthy Emotions. Evening, Evening Star, Soire'e Star. Wishes Come True, Faithful and Happy. Love's Oracle, Faithfulness, Happiness. Fame, Kind thoughts of those departed. Wealth and Pride, Success, also Coquetry.

Your Simple Elegance Charms Me. Your simple elegance charms me. Sacred "bamboo" symbolic of Luck, Prosperity, Fortune. Kindness, but also Sorrow and Remorse. Dignity, Grace, Mother, Earth Goddess. Protection, Warn of Others, Purification of tainted areas. Never Ceasing Memory, Perpetual Remembrance. Worthy of Praise, Strength, Flattery, Praise. Sincerity, Confidence, Shelter, Facsination, Magic. Secret Bond of Love, Discretion. Fertility, Strength, Energy , Health, Joviality. Cold hearted, Rejected, Idleness. Tenacity, Holding Fast, Basket, Wickerwork.

Deception, Caught at Last, Duplicity. True Love, Memories, Hope, Remembrance. Be mine; Good Luck: Faith, Hope, Luck, Love see Clover. Love for All Occasions, Enduring Affection. You're Lovely, Secret love, Purity, Refinement. Reward of Virtue; Victory, Conquest or Success. Protection, Strength and Courage. I Expect a Meeting, Expected Meeting. True Friendship, Lady, Deign to Smile.

Fidelity in Adversity, Promptness. Strength, Safety, Warmth, Comfort, Pleasant. Generosity, I'm Sincere, Flower of the Gladiators. Strength of Character, Ready-armed, Splendid Beauty. Unfading Eternal Love, Immortality. Love at first sight, A Proud Spirit. Fascination; Sincerity; Love Flower.

Encouragement, Precaution, Be Cautious, Protection. Endearing Affection, Love in All Seasons. Fairy Tree, Meant to Overcome Harshness. All parts used in Witchcraft, Caution, Hostility. Mystical Powers, Divination, Foresight. Modesty, Pleasant thoughts, Think of me,. Cleansing, Good Luck, Admiration.

Admiration, Solitude, Beauty, Listen to your bodies message. Godly Devotion,Eagerness, Forgiveness, Acceptance. Intoxicated with Joy, Intoxication Of Love. Relieve My Anxiety, Tranquilize Me. You will cause my death, One of the Four Poisons. Welcome Home No Matter What. Peace, Happiness, Rare Beauty. Splendid Beauty, Proud and Lovely.

Foresight, Growth and Persistence, Forecast, Defense. Fruitfulness, Fecundity, Ambition, Devotion to Love. Bonds of Love, Sweetness of Disposition. Devoted Affection, I Love You. Fidelity, Generous and Devoted Love or Affection. Domestic Industry or Economy; Vivacity.

Sculptured loveliness, constancy, pure loveliness. Flower of Apollo,Gay Flower, sometimes Rashness. Constancy, Consistency, Given to Departing Friends. Consistency, Loveliness, I'm sorry, Please forgive me, sorrow. Modest or Unobtrusive Loveliness, Purity, Simplicity. Unobtrusive Loveliness, I'll pray for you.

Devotion to a Noble Cause or Love, Unveiling. Thank You for Understanding, sometimes Heartlessness. Cleanliness,Purification, Holy Herb wards off evil or evil spirits. Old Beau, Rejected, Your looks freeze me, Idleness. Message from Heavan, My Compliments, Eloquence,. Messenger of Love, Symbol of Communication. Message, My Compliments, Eloquence. Can you return my love? Betrayal, Unbelief, Beauty and strength in the face of. Succour, Protection, Perfect Loveliness, Aid.

Perfection of female loveliness. I Claim Your Esteem, can mean Dissention. Win and Wear Me, Capricious Beauty. Rigor, I am Unyielding, Severity. Audacity, Boldness, can also mean fickleness.

Protection, Clear Vision,Wards off Evil. Light Hearted, Changeable, Fickleness. Victory that overcomes perfidy or treachery. Glory, Ambition, Victory, Success. Devoted to you, I die if neglected. Cheerful in Adversity, Delicate Attentions. Luck, Loyalty, Love, Devotion, Acknowledgment.

Fascination, Fidelity, I promise to be true, discretion. Pleasantries, Healing and Relief, Sympathy.

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Brings love, Discretion, Divination, Happiness. Energising, Fresh Start, Man's Love. Zeal, Fidelity, Healing, Love Trees. Confidence, dejection, refusal, solitude. Beauty, Pride, Confidence, First Emotions of love. Honor, Purity of Heart, Innocence, Pride. Beauty and Loveliness, Maiden Modesty. Majesty and Honour, Purity of Heart. I'm Walking on Air, Gratitude, Gaiety, also falsehood. Purity, Majesty, Modesty, Virginity and Sweetness. Heavenly to be with You, You are both Sweet and Pure.

Flower of Juno, Roman Queen Goddess. Return of Happiness, Humility, Sweetness, Chastity. Fairy Ladders, The Ladder to Heaven. Happy Thoughts, Happiness Through the Ages. Affection Beyond the Grave, Platonic Love. Desertion, Hopeless but not Heartless. Religious Enthusiasm, Sweetness, Beauty, Wit. Nobility, Perseverance, Noble Spirit, Dignity. Benevolence, High-souled, Love of Nature. Magnificent and Splendid Beauty, Magnificence.

Bonds of Love, Secret Bond of love. Delicate Beauty, Sweetness, Consumed by Love. Divination, Love, Reserve, Retirement, Draws together. Sacred Sea of Gold, Overcomes grief, despair, jealousy. Golden Prosperity, Overcomes vulgar minds. Comforts the Heart, Overcomes jealousy. Idleness, Cold Hearted or Rejected. Your qualities Surpass your Charms, Health, Worth. Your presence softens my pain. Your presence softens my pain, comfort. Secret Love, Sensitivity, Exquisite, Fastidious. Virtue, Protection from Illness , Warmth of Feeling. Resourcefulness, Alternatives; sometimes Counterfeit.

Irresistible; Your Whims are Unbearable. Greet s the New Day, Loves You. Truth, Silence; also Your Thoughts are Dark. Peace, Fruitfulness, Security and Money. Innocence, Eternal Love, Marriage, Fruitfulness. Thoughtfulness, You Flattery Me, Refinement. You are a Belle, You Flatter Me. Protection, Happiness, Good Fortune, Prosperity,. Patience, Be patient, Attracts Wealth. Magic, Devotion; Death and Bad Luck. Unpretentious, You Have No Claims.

Faith, Religious Passion, Belief. Appoint a Meeting, Lasting Pleasure Everlasting. Love and Divination, Long and Prosperous Life.

Affections, Lasting friendship, More than Just Lovely. Good Health and Prosperity, Compassion. Happy Marriage and Happy Life, Aphrodisiac. Bashfulness, Shame; sometimes Anger and Indignation. Cordiality, Warmth of Feeling. Early Friendship, Friendship, Early Recollections. Harmony, Pleasure of Memory, Sweet Remembrance. Your Presence Soothes Me against resentment and anger. Admiration;Widowhood; Comfort in Loss of Someone. Conviviality, Renewal of Life. You are Aspiring, Always Lovely. Pure Love, Always Lovely, Boldness.

Unreasonableness, A Difficult Love. Fascination, Talent , Ingenious, You are Fair. Promise, Hope, Hope for Tomorrow. Be of good cheer, Keep your promises, fidelity. Love, joy, marriage and bonds. Purse-proud, Pride of Riches, Confidence, Elegance. Good Luck,Elegance,some say Foolishness and Foppery. Elegance, sometimes Foolishness and Foppery. Endure and Conquor, Courage, Time. Eternal Sleep, Oblivion, Consolation, Rest. Rebirth, Rejuvenation, Farewell, Death. Mystery, Attaining the impossible. Wealth, Success, their Pleasures and Consolation.

True love, Pleasure, Fantastic Extravagance. Superior, Confessions of Love. Beloved Daughter, Beloved Child. Unpatronized or Neglected Merit, Early youth, Sadness. Happiness, Happy Love, sometimes Inconstancy. Diversity and Courage, Daring. Motherhood, Recovery especially from illness. Agitation, My Thoughts Are Uneasy. Temptation, Represents a Choice, Abundance. Temptation, What Should I Choose? Wit, Sweetness, Beauty, Ardor. Music, Symbol of Music, sometimes Imprudence. Sometimes planted for protection to ward off danger. Farewell, Symbol of Death used at Funerals. Mystery, Attaining the Impossible, Uniqueness.

Unconscious Beauty, Beauty Within. You will be necessarily upborn by the air, if you can renew any impulse upon it, faster than the air can recede from the pressure. You, Sir, whose curiosity is so extensive, will easily conceive with what pleasure a philosopher, furnished with wings, and hovering in the sky, would see the earth, and all its inhabitants, rolling beneath him, and presenting to him successively, by its diurnal motion, all the countries within the same parallel.

How must it amuse the pendent spectator to see the moving scene of land and ocean, cities and desarts! To survey with equal security the marts of trade, and the fields of battle; mountains infested by barbarians, and fruitful regions gladdened by plenty, and lulled by peace! How easily shall we then trace the Nile through all his passage; pass over to distant regions, and examine the face of nature from one extremity of the earth to the other!

I have been told, that respiration is difficult upon lofty mountains, yet from these precipices, though so high as to produce great tenuity of the air, it is very easy to fall: If you will favour my project I will try the first flight at my own hazard.

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I have considered the structure of all volant animals, and find the folding continuity of the bat's wings most easily accommodated to the human form. Upon this model I shall begin my task to morrow, and in a year expect to tower into the air beyond the malice or persuit of man. But I will work only on this condition, that the art shall not be divulged, and that you shall not require me to make wings for any but ourselves. All skill ought to be exerted for universal good; every man has owed much to others, and ought to repay the kindness that he has received.

But what would be the security of the good, if the bad could at pleasure invade them from the sky? Against an army sailing through the cloud neither walls, nor mountains, nor seas, could afford any security. A flight of northern savages might hover in the wind, and light at once with irresistible violence upon the capital of a fruitful region that was rolling under them. Even this valley, the retreat of princes, the abode of happiness, might be violated by the sudden descent of some of the naked nations that swarm on the coast of the southern sea.

The prince promised secrecy, and waited for the performance, not wholly hopeless of success. He visited the work from time to time, observed its progress, and remarked many ingenious contrivances to facilitate motion, and unite levity with strength. The artist was every day more certain that he should leave vultures and eagles behind him, and the contagion of his confidence seized upon the prince.

In a year the wings were finished, and, on a morning appointed, the maker appeared furnished for flight on a little promontory: His wings, which were of no use in the air, sustained him in the water, and the prince drew him to land, half dead with terrour and vexation. The prince finds a man of learning. The prince was not much afflicted by this disaster, having suffered himself to hope for a happier event, only because he had no other means of escape in view. He still persisted in his design to leave the happy valley by the first opportunity.

His imagination was now at a stand; he had no prospect of entering into the world; and, notwithstanding all his endeavours to support himself, discontent by degrees preyed upon him, and he began again to lose his thoughts in sadness, when the rainy season, which in these countries is periodical, made it inconvenient to wander in the woods. The rain continued longer and with more violence than had been ever known: The lake overflowed its banks, and all the level of the valley was covered with the inundation.

The eminence, on which the palace was built, and some other spots of rising ground, were all that the eye could now discover. The herds and flocks left the pastures, and both the wild beasts and the tame retreated to the mountains. This inundation confined all the princes to domestick amusements, and the attention of Rasselas was particularly seized by a poem, which Imlac rehearsed upon the various conditions of humanity.

He commanded the poet to attend him in his apartment, and recite his verses a second time; then entering into familiar talk, he thought himself happy in having found a man who knew the world so well, and could so skilfully paint the scenes of life. He asked a thousand questions about things, to which, though common to all other mortals, his confinement from childhood had kept him a stranger. The poet pitied his ignorance, and loved his curiosity, and entertained him from day to day with novelty and instruction, so that the prince regretted the necessity of sleep, and longed till the morning should renew his pleasure.

As they were sitting together, the prince commanded Imlac to relate his history, and to tell by what accident he was forced, or by what motive induced, to close his life in the happy valley. As he was going to begin his narrative, Rasselas was called to a concert, and obliged to restrain his curiosity till the evening. The history of Imlac. The close of the day is, in the regions of the torrid zone, the only season of diversion and entertainment, and it was therefore midnight before the musick ceased, and the princesses retired. Rasselas then called for his companion and required him to begin the story of his life.

To talk in publick, to think in solitude, to read and to hear, to inquire, and answer inquiries, is the business of a scholar. He wanders about the world without pomp or terrour, and is neither known nor valued but by men like himself. My father was a wealthy merchant, who traded between the inland countries of Africk and the ports of the red sea. He was honest, frugal and diligent, but of mean sentiments, and narrow comprehension: Does he not know that kings are accountable for injustice permitted as well as done?

If I were emperour, not the meanest of my subjects should be oppressed with impunity. My blood boils when I am told that a merchant durst not enjoy his honest gains for fear of losing them by the rapacity of power. Name the governour who robbed the people, that I may declare his crimes to the emperour. Oppression is, in the Abissinian dominions, neither frequent nor tolerated; but no form of government has been yet discovered, by which cruelty can be wholly prevented.

Subordination supposes power on one part and subjection on the other; and if power be in the hands of men, it will sometimes be abused. The vigilance of the supreme magistrate may do much, but much will still remain undone.

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He can never know all the crimes that are committed, and can seldom punish all that he knows. I am unwilling to doubt thy veracity, yet inconsistencies cannot both be true. Yet diversity is not inconsistency.

Richard L. Amoroso

My father might expect a time of greater security. However, some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he, whose real wants are supplied, must admit those of fancy. I repent that I interrupted thee. I was twenty years old before his tenderness would expose me to the fatigue of travel, in which time I had been instructed, by successive masters, in all the literature of my native country. As every hour taught me something new, I lived in a continual course of gratifications; but, as I advanced towards manhood, I lost much of the reverence with which I had been used to look on my instructors; because, when the lesson was ended, I did not find them wiser or better than common men.

This, young man, said he, is the stock with which you must negociate. I began with less than the fifth part, and you see how diligence and parsimony have increased it. This is your own to waste or to improve. If you squander it by negligence or caprice, you must wait for my death before you will be rich: When I cast my eye on the expanse of waters my heart bounded like that of a prisoner escaped. I felt an unextinguishable curiosity kindle in my mind, and resolved to snatch this opportunity of seeing the manners of other nations, and of learning sciences unknown in Abissinia.

I had no motives of choice to regulate my voyage; it was sufficient for me that, wherever I wandered, I should see a country which I had not seen before. I therefore entered a ship bound for Surat, having left a letter for my father declaring my intention. The history of Imlac continued. I then descended into the ship, and doubted for a while whether all my future pleasures would not end like this in disgust and disappointment. Yet, surely, said I, the ocean and the land are very different; the only variety of water is rest and motion, but the earth has mountains and vallies, desarts and cities: I secured my money, and purchasing some commodities for show, joined myself to a caravan that was passing into the inland country.

My companions, for some reason or other, conjecturing that I was rich, and, by my inquiries and admiration, finding that I was ignorant, considered me as a novice whom they had a right to cheat, and who was to learn at the usual expence the art of fraud. They exposed me to the theft of servants, and the exaction of officers, and saw me plundered upon false pretences, without any advantage to themselves, but that of rejoicing in the superiority of their own knowledge.

Is there such depravity in man, as that he should injure another without benefit to himself? I can easily conceive that all are pleased with superiority; but your ignorance was merely accidental, which, being neither your crime nor your folly, could afford them no reason to applaud themselves; and the knowledge which they had, and which you wanted, they might as effectually have shown by warning, as betraying you.

They were my enemies because they grieved to think me rich, and my oppressors because they delighted to find me weak. I doubt not of the facts which you relate, but imagine that you impute them to mistaken motives. I applied myself to the language of the country, and in a few months was able to converse with the learned men; some of whom I found morose and reserved, and others easy and communicative; some were unwilling to teach another what they had with difficulty learned themselves; and some shewed that the end of their studies was to gain the dignity of instructing.

The emperour asked me many questions concerning my country and my travels; and though I cannot now recollect any thing that he uttered above the power of a common man, he dismissed me astonished at his wisdom, and enamoured of his goodness. I was surprised at their confidence of solicitation, and gently reproached them with their practices on the road. They heard me with cold indifference, and shewed no tokens of shame or sorrow.

The Persians are a nation eminently social, and their assemblies afforded me daily opportunities of remarking characters and manners, and of tracing human nature through all its variations. A dissertation upon poetry. And it yet fills me with wonder, that, in almost all countries, the most ancient poets are considered as the best: Whatever be the reason, it is commonly observed that the early writers are in possession of nature, and their followers of art: I read all the poets of Persia and Arabia, and was able to repeat by memory the volumes that are suspended in the mosque of Mecca.

But I soon found that no man was ever great by imitation. My desire of excellence impelled me to transfer my attention to nature and to life. Nature was to be my subject, and men to be my auditors: I could never describe what I had not seen: I could not hope to move those with delight or terrour, whose interests and opinions I did not understand. I ranged mountains and deserts for images and resemblances, and pictured upon my mind every tree of the forest and flower of the valley.

I observed with equal care the crags of the rock and the pinnacles of the palace. Sometimes I wandered along the mazes of the rivulet, and sometimes watched the changes of the summer clouds. To a poet nothing can be useless. Whatever is beautiful, and whatever is dreadful, must be familiar to his imagination: The plants of the garden, the animals of the wood, the minerals of the earth, and meteors of the sky, must all concur to store his mind with inexhaustible variety: I have lived, till now, within the circuit of these mountains, and yet cannot walk abroad without the sight of something which I had never beheld before, or never heeded.

He is to exhibit in his portraits of nature such prominent and striking features, as recal the original to every mind; and must neglect the minuter discriminations, which one may have remarked, and another have neglected, for those characteristicks which are alike obvious to vigilance and carelessness. His character requires that he estimate the happiness and misery of every condition; observe the power of all the passions in all their combinations, and trace the changes of the human mind as they are modified by various institutions and accidental influences of climate or custom, from the spriteliness of infancy to the despondence of decrepitude.

He must divest himself of the prejudices of his age or country; he must consider right and wrong in their abstracted and invariable state; he must disregard present laws and opinions, and rise to general and transcendental truths, which will always be the same: He must write as the interpreter of nature, and the legislator of mankind, and consider himself as presiding over the thoughts and manners of future generations; as a being superiour to time and place.

A hint on pilgrimage. Imlac now felt the enthusiastic fit, and was proceeding to aggrandize his own profession, when the prince cried out, "Enough! Thou hast convinced me, that no human being can ever be a poet. Proceed with thy narration. Tell me whither you went when you had seen Persia. When I compared these men with the natives of our own kingdom, and those that surround us, they appeared almost another order of beings.

In their countries it is difficult to wish for any thing that may not be obtained: The same wind that carries them back would bring us thither. But why their knowledge is more than ours, I know not what reason can be given, but the unsearchable will of the Supreme Being. Till that happy moment shall arrive, let me fill up the time with such representations as thou canst give me.

I am not ignorant of the motive that assembles such numbers in that place, and cannot but consider it as the center of wisdom and piety, to which the best and wisest men of every land must be continually resorting. Long journies in search of truth are not commanded. Truth, such as is necessary to the regulation of life, is always found where it is honestly sought. Change of place is no natural cause of the increase of piety, for it inevitably produces dissipation of mind. Yet, since men go every day to view the fields where great actions have been performed, and return with stronger impressions of the event, curiosity of the same kind may naturally dispose us to view that country whence our religion had its beginning; and I believe no man surveys those awful scenes without some confirmation of holy resolutions.

That the Supreme Being may be more easily propitiated in one place than in another, is the dream of idle superstition; but that some places may operate upon our own minds in an uncommon manner, is an opinion which hourly experience will justify. He who supposes that his vices may be more successfully combated in Palestine, will, perhaps, find himself mistaken, yet he may go thither without folly: I will consider them another time.

What have you found to be the effect of knowledge? Are those nations happier than we? Knowledge is certainly one of the means of pleasure, as is confessed by the natural desire which every mind feels of increasing its ideas. Ignorance is mere privation, by which nothing can be produced: I am therefore inclined to conclude, that, if nothing counteracts the natural consequence of learning, we grow more happy as our minds take a wider range. They cure wounds and diseases with which we languish and perish.

We suffer inclemencies of weather which they can obviate. They have engines for the despatch of many laborious works, which we must perform by manual industry. There is such communication between distant places, that one friend can hardly be said to be absent from another. Their policy removes all publick inconveniencies: And, if we descend to the privacies of life, their habitations are more commodious, and their possessions are more secure.

Human life is every where a state in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed.

The story of Imlac continued. I would injure no man, and should provoke no resentment: I would relieve every distress, and should enjoy the benedictions of gratitude. I would choose my friends among the wise, and my wife among the virtuous; and therefore should be in no danger from treachery, or unkindness. My children should, by my care, be learned and pious, and would repay to my age what their childhood had received. What would dare to molest him who might call on every side to thousands enriched by his bounty, or assisted by his power?

And why should not life glide quietly away in the soft reciprocation of protection and reverence? All this may be done without the help of European refinements, which appear by their effects to be rather specious than useful. Let us leave them and persue our journey. At last I began to long for my native country, that I might repose after my travels, and fatigues, in the places where I had spent my earliest years, and gladden my old companions with the recital of my adventures. Often did I figure to myself those, with whom I had sported away the gay hours of dawning life, sitting round me in its evening, wondering at my tales, and listening to my counsels.

I hastened into Egypt, and, notwithstanding my impatience, was detained ten months in the contemplation of its ancient magnificence, and in enquiries after the remains of its ancient learning. I found in Cairo a mixture of all nations; some brought thither by the love of knowledge, some by the hope of gain, and many by the desire of living after their own manner without observation, and of lying hid in the obscurity of multitudes: Here I joined myself to a caravan and re-entered my native country. But I was soon convinced that my thoughts were vain.

My father had been dead fourteen years, having divided his wealth among my brothers, who were removed to some other provinces. Of my companions the greater part was in the grave, of the rest some could with difficulty remember me, and some considered me as one corrupted by foreign manners. I forgot, after a time, my disappointment, and endeavoured to recommend myself to the nobles of the kingdom: I opened a school, and was prohibited to teach. I then resolved to sit down in the quiet of domestick life, and addressed a lady that was fond of my conversation, but rejected my suit, because my father was a merchant.

I waited for the time when the gate of the happy valley should open, that I might bid farewell to hope and fear: Tell me without reserve; art thou content with thy condition? All the inhabitants of this valley celebrate their lot, and, at the annual visit of the emperour, invite others to partake of their felicity. I know not one of all your attendants who does not lament the hour when he entered this retreat. I am less unhappy than the rest, because I have a mind replete with images, which I can vary and combine at pleasure.

I can amuse my solitude by the renovation of the knowledge which begins to fade from my memory, and by recollection of the accidents of my past life. Yet all this ends in the sorrowful consideration, that my acquirements are now useless, and that none of my pleasures can be again enjoyed. The rest, whose minds have no impression but of the present moment, are either corroded by malignant passions, or sit stupid in the gloom of perpetual vacancy. We are in a place where impotence precludes malice, and where all envy is repressed by community of enjoyments.

It must happen that one will please more than another; he that knows himself despised will always be envious; and still more envious and malevolent, if he is condemned to live in the presence of those who despise him. The invitations, by which they allure others to a state which they feel to be wretched, proceed from the natural malignity of hopeless misery. They are weary of themselves, and of each other, and expect to find relief in new companions.

They envy the liberty which their folly has forfeited, and would gladly see all mankind imprisoned like themselves. No man can say that he is wretched by my persuasion. I look with pity on the crowds who are annually soliciting admission to captivity, and wish that it were lawful for me to warn them of their danger. I have long meditated an escape from the happy valley. I have examined the mountains on every side, but find myself insuperably barred: The world, which you figure to yourself smooth and quiet as the lake in the valley, you will find a sea foaming with tempests, and boiling with whirlpools: Amidst wrongs and frauds, competitions and anxieties, you will wish a thousand times for these seats of quiet, and willingly quit hope to be free from fear.

I am impatient to see what thou hast seen; and, since thou art thyself weary of the valley, it is evident, that thy former state was better than this. Whatever be the consequence of my experiment, I am resolved to judge with my own eyes of the various conditions of men, and then to make deliberately my choice of life.

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Rasselas discovers the means of escape.

The prince now dismissed his favourite to rest, but the narrative of wonders and novelties filled his mind with perturbation. He revolved all that he had heard, and prepared innumerable questions for the morning. Much of his uneasiness was now removed. He had a friend to whom he could impart his thoughts, and whose experience could assist him in his designs. His heart was no longer condemned to swell with silent vexation. He thought that even. In a few days the water was discharged, and the ground dried. The prince and Imlac then walked out together to converse without the notice of the rest.

The prince, whose thoughts were always on the wing, as he passed by the gate, said, with a countenance of sorrow, "Why art thou so strong, and why is man so weak? The master of mechanicks laughs at strength. I can burst the gate, but cannot do it secretly. Some other expedient must be tried. As they were walking on the side of the mountain, they observed that the conies, which the rain had driven from their burrows, had taken shelter among the bushes, and formed holes behind them, tending upwards in an oblique line.

We may escape by piercing the mountain in the same direction.

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We will begin where the summit hangs over the middle part, and labour upward till we shall issue out beyond the prominence. The eyes of the prince, when he heard this proposal, sparkled with joy. The execution was easy, and the success certain. No time was now lost. They hastened early in the morning to chuse a place proper for their mine. They clambered with great fatigue among crags and brambles, and returned without having discovered any part that favoured their design. The second and the third day were spent in the same manner, and with the same frustration.

But, on the fourth, they found a small cavern, concealed by a thicket, where they resolved to make their experiment. Imlac procured instruments proper to hew stone and remove earth and they fell to their work on the next day with more eagerness than vigour. They were presently exhausted by their efforts, and sat down to pant upon the grass.

The prince, for the moment, appeared to be discouraged. Great works are performed, not by strength but perseverance: He that shall walk with vigour three hours a day will pass in seven years a space equal to the circumference of the globe. This Rasselas considered as a good omen. Whatever facilitates our work is more than an omen, it is a cause of success.

This is one of those pleasing surprises which often happen to active resolution. Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance. Rasselas and Imlac receive an unexpected visit. They had now wrought their way to the middle, and solaced their toil with the approach of liberty, when the prince, coming down to refresh himself with air, found his sister Nekayah standing before the mouth of the cavity. He started and stood confused, afraid to tell his design, and yet hopeless to conceal it.

A few moments determined him to repose on her fidelity, and secure her secrecy by a declaration without reserve. I had long observed from my window, that you and Imlac directed your walk every day towards the same point, but I did not suppose you had any better reason for the preference than a cooler shade, or more fragrant bank; nor followed you with any other design than to partake of your conversation. Since then not suspicion but fondness has detected you, let me not lose the advantage of my discovery.

I am equally weary of confinement with yourself, and not less desirous of knowing what is done or suffered in the world. Permit me to fly with you from this tasteless tranquility, which will yet grow more loathsome when you have left me. You may deny me to accompany you, but cannot hinder me from following. The prince, who loved Nekayah above his other sisters, had lost an opportunity of shewing his confidence by a voluntary communication.

It was therefore agreed that she should leave the valley with them; and that, in the mean time, she should watch, lest any other straggler should, by chance or curiosity, follow them to the mountain. At length their labour was at an end; they saw light beyond the prominence, and, issuing to the top of the mountain, beheld the Nile, yet a narrow current, wandering beneath them. The prince looked round with rapture, anticipated all the pleasures of travel, and in thought was already transported beyond his father's dominions.

Imlac, though very joyful at his escape, had less expectation of pleasure in the world, which he had before tried, and of which he had been weary. Rasselas was so much delighted with a wider horizon, that he could not soon be persuaded to return into the valley. He informed his sister that the way was open, and that nothing now remained but to prepare for their departure. The prince and princess leave the valley, and see many wonders. The prince and princess had jewels sufficient to make them rich whenever they came into a place of commerce, which, by Imlac's direction, they hid in their cloaths, and, on the night of the next full moon, all left the valley.

The princess was followed only by a single favourite, who did not know whither she was going. They clambered through the cavity, and began to go down towards every part, and, seeing nothing to bound their prospect, considered themselves as in danger of being lost in a dreary vacuity. They stopped and trembled. Imlac smiled at their terrours, and encouraged them to proceed; but the princess continued irresolute till she had been imperceptibly drawn forward too far to return.

In the morning they found some shepherds in the field, who set milk and fruits before them. The princess wondered that she did not see a palace ready for her reception, and a table spread with delicacies; but, being faint and hungry, she drank the milk and eat the fruits, and thought them of a higher flavour than the products of the valley.

They travelled forward by easy journeys, being all unaccustomed to toil or difficulty, and knowing, that though they might be missed, they could not be persued. In a few days they came into a more populous region, where Imlac was diverted with the admiration which his companions expressed at the diversity of manners, stations and employments. Their dress was such as might not bring upon them the suspicion of having any thing to conceal, yet the prince, wherever he came, expected to be obeyed, and the princess was frighted, because those that came into her presence did not prostrate themselves before her.

Imlac was forced to observe them with great vigilance, lest they should betray their rank by their unusual behaviour, and detained them several weeks in the first village to accustom them to the sight of common mortals. By degrees the royal wanderers were taught to understand that they had for a time laid aside their dignity, and were to expect only such regard as liberality and courtesy could procure. And Imlac, having, by many admonitions, prepared them to endure the tumults of a port, and the ruggedness of the commercial race, brought them down to the seacoast. The prince and his sister, to whom every thing was new, were gratified equally at all places, and therefore remained for some months at the port without any inclination to pass further.

Imlac was content with their stay, because he did not think it safe to expose them, unpractised in the world, to the hazards of a foreign country. At last he began to fear lest they should be discovered, and proposed to fix a day for their departure. They had no pretensions to judge for themselves, and referred the whole scheme to his direction. He therefore took passage in a ship to Suez; and, when the time came, with great difficulty prevailed on the princess to enter the vessel.

They had a quick and prosperous voyage, and from Suez travelled by land to Cairo. They enter Cairo, and find every man happy. As they approached the city, which filled the strangers with astonishment, "This, said Imlac to the prince, is the place where travellers and merchants assemble from all the corners of the earth. You will here find men of every character, and every occupation. Commerce is here honourable: I will act as a merchant, and you shall live as strangers, who have no other end of travel than curiosity; it will soon be observed that we are rich; our reputation will procure us access to all whom we shall desire to know; you will see all the conditions of humanity, and enable yourself at leisure to make your choice of life.

Instruction had not yet so prevailed over habit but that they wondered to see themselves pass undistinguished along the street, and met by the lowest of the people without reverence or notice. The princess could not at first bear the thought of being levelled with the vulgar, and, for some days, continued in her chamber, where she was served by her favourite Pekuah as in the palace of the valley.

Imlac, who understood traffick, sold part of the jewels the next day, and hired a house, which he adorned with such magnificence, that he was immediately considered as a merchant of great wealth. His politeness attracted many acquaintance, and his generosity made him courted by many dependants. His table was crowded by men of every nation, who all admired his knowledge, and solicited his favour.

His companions, not being able to mix in the conversation, could make no discovery of their ignorance or surprise, and were gradually initiated in the world as they gained knowledge of the language. The prince had, by frequent lectures, been taught the use and nature of money; but the ladies could not, for a long time, comprehend what the merchants did with small pieces of gold and silver, or why things of so little use should be received as equivalent to the necessaries of life.

They studied the language two years, while Imlac was preparing to set before them the various ranks and conditions of mankind. He grew acquainted with all who had any thing uncommon in their fortune or conduct. He frequented the voluptuous and the frugal, the idle and the busy, the merchants and the men of learning. The prince, being now able to converse with fluency, and having learned the caution necessary to be observed in his intercourse with strangers, began to accompany Imlac to places of resort, and to enter into all assemblies, that he might make his choice of life.

For some time he thought choice needless, because all appeared to him equally happy. Wherever he went he met gayety and kindness, and heard the song of joy, or the laugh of carelessness He began to believe that the world overflowed with universal plenty, and that nothing was withheld either from want or merit; that every hand showered liberality, and every heart melted with benevolence: Imlac permitted the pleasing delusion, and was unwilling to crush the hope of inexperience; till one day, having sat a while silent, "I know not, said the prince, what can be the reason that I am more unhappy than any of our friends.

I see them perpetually and unalterably chearful, but feel my own mind restless and uneasy. I am unsatisfied with those pleasures which I seem most to court; I live in the crowds of jollity, not so much to enjoy company as to shun myself, and am only loud and merry to conceal my sadness. Envy is commonly reciprocal. We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself.

In the assembly, where you passed the last night, there appeared such spriteliness of air, and volatility of fancy as might have suited beings of an higher order, formed to inhabit serener regions inaccessible to care or sorrow: Every man is placed in his present condition by causes which acted without his foresight, and with which he did not always willingly co-operate; and therefore you will rarely meet one who does not think the lot of his neighbour better than his own.

I have here the world before me; I will review it at leisure: The prince associates with young men of spirit and gaiety. Rasselas rose next day, and resolved to begin his experiments upon life. I will join myself to the young men, whose only business is to gratify their desires, and whose time is all spent in a succession of enjoyments.

To such societies he was readily admitted, but a few days brought him back weary and disgusted. Their mirth was without images, their laughter without motive; their pleasures were gross and sensual, in which the mind had no part; their conduct was at once wild and mean; they laughed at order and at law, but the frown of power dejected, and the eye of wisdom abashed them.

The prince soon concluded, that he should never be happy in a course of life of which he was ashamed. He thought it unsuitable to a reasonable being to act without a plan, and to be sad or chearful only by chance. But his young companions had gained so much of his regard by their frankness and courtesy, that he could not leave them without warning and remonstrance. The first years of man must make provision for the last. He that never thinks never can be wise. Perpetual levity must end in ignorance; and intemperance, though it may fire the spirits for an hour, will make life short or miserable.

Let us consider that youth is of no long duration, and that in maturer age, when the enchantments of fancy shall cease, and phantoms of delight dance no more about us, we shall have no comforts but the esteem of wise men, and the means of doing good. Let us, therefore, stop, while to stop is in our power: The consciousness that his sentiments were just, and his intentions kind, was scarcely sufficient to support him against the horrour of derision.

But he recovered his tranquility, and persued his search. The prince finds a wise and happy man. As he was one day walking in the street, he saw a spacious building which all were, by the open doors, invited to enter: He fixed his eye upon a sage raised above the rest, who discoursed with great energy on the government of the passions. His look was venerable, his action graceful, his pronunciation clear, and his diction elegant. He shewed, with great strength of sentiment, and variety of illustration, that human nature is degraded and debased, when the lower faculties predominate over the higher; that when fancy, the parent of passion, usurps the dominion of the mind, nothing ensues but the natural effect of unlawful government, perturbation and confusion; that she betrays the fortresses of the intellect to rebels, and excites her children to sedition against reason their lawful sovereign.

He compared reason to the sun, of which the light is constant, uniform, and lasting; and fancy to a meteor, of bright but transitory lustre, irregular in its motion, and delusive in its direction. He then communicated the various precepts given from time to time for the conquest of passion, and displayed the happiness of those who had obtained the important victory, after which man is no longer the slave of fear, nor the fool of hope; is no more emaciated by envy, inflamed by anger, emasculated by tenderness, or depressed by grief; but walks on calmly through the tumults or the privacies of life, as the sun persues alike his course through the calm or the stormy sky.

He enumerated many examples of heroes immovable by pain or pleasure, who looked with indifference on those modes or accidents to which the vulgar give the names of good and evil. He exhorted his hearers to lay aside their prejudices, and arm themselves against the shafts of malice or misfortune, by invulnerable patience; concluding, that this state only was happiness, and that this happiness was in every one's power. Rasselas listened to him with the veneration due to the instructions of a superior being, and, waiting for him at the door, humbly implored the liberty of visiting so great a master of true wisdom.

The lecturer hesitated a moment, when Rasselas put a purse of gold into his hand, which he received with a mixture of joy and wonder. He speaks, and attention watches his lips. He reasons, and conviction closes his periods. This man shall be my future guide: I will learn his doctrines, and imitate his life. Rasselas, who could not conceive how any man could reason so forcibly without feeling the cogency of his own arguments, paid his visit in a few days, and was denied admission. He had now learned the power of money, and made his way by a piece of gold to the inner apartment, where he found the philosopher in a room half darkened, with his eyes misty, and his face pale.

My daughter, my only daughter, from whose tenderness I expected all the comforts of my age, died last night of a fever. My views, my purposes, my hopes are at an end: I am now a lonely being disunited from society. Has wisdom no strength to arm the heart against calamity? Consider, that external things are naturally variable, but truth and reason are always the same. The prince, whose humanity would not suffer him to insult misery with reproof, went away convinced of the emptiness of rhetorical sound, and the inefficacy of polished periods and studied sentences.

A Glimpse of pastoral life. He was still eager upon the same enquiry; and, having heard of a hermit, that lived near the lowest cataract of the Nile, and filled the whole country with the fame of his sanctity, resolved to visit his retreat, and enquire whether that felicity, which publick life could not afford, was to be found in solitude; and whether a man, whose age and virtue made him venerable, could teach any peculiar art of shunning evils, or enduring them.

Imlac and the princess agreed to accompany him, and, after the necessary preparations, they began their journey. Their way lay through fields, where shepherds tended their flocks, and the lambs were playing upon the pasture. The proposal pleased them, and they induced the shepherds, by small presents and familiar questions, to tell their opinion of their own state: But it was evident that their hearts were cankered with discontent; that they considered themselves as condemned to labour for the luxury of the rich, and looked up with stupid malevolence toward those that were placed above them.

The princess pronounced with vehemence, that she would never suffer these envious savages to be her companions, and that she should not soon be desirous of seeing any more specimens of rustick happiness; but could not believe that all the accounts of primeval pleasures were fabulous, and was yet in doubt whether life had any thing that could be justly preferred to the placid gratifications of fields and woods.

She hoped that the time would come, when with a few virtuous and elegant companions, she should gather flowers planted by her own hand, fondle the lambs of her own ewe, and listen, without care, among brooks and breezes, to one of her maidens reading in the shade. The dangers of prosperity. On the next day they continued their journey, till the heat compelled them to look round for shelter.

At a small distance they saw a thick wood, which they no sooner entered than they perceived that they were approaching the habitations of men. The shrubs were diligently cut away to open walks where the shades were darkest; the boughs of opposite trees were artificially interwoven; seats of flowery turf were raised in vacant spaces, and a rivulet, that wantoned along the side of a winding path, had its banks sometimes opened into small basons, and its stream sometimes obstructed by little mounds of stone heaped together to increase its murmurs.

They passed slowly through the wood, delighted with such unexpected accommodations, and entertained each other with conjecturing what, or who, he could be, that, in those rude and unfrequented regions, had leisure and art for such harmless luxury. As they advanced, they heard the sound of musick, and saw youths and virgins dancing in the grove; and, going still further, beheld a stately palace built upon a hill surrounded with woods.

The laws of eastern hospitality allowed them to enter, and the master welcomed them like a man liberal and wealthy. He was skilful enough in appearances soon to discern that they were no common guests, and spread his table with magnificence. The eloquence of Imlac caught his attention, and the lofty courtesy of the princess excited his respect. When they offered to depart he entreated their stay, and was the next day still more unwilling to dismiss them than before. They were easily persuaded to stop, and civility grew up in time to freedom and confidence. The prince now saw all the domesticks cheerful, and all the face of nature smiling round the place, and could not forbear to hope that he should find here what he was seeking; but when he was congratulating the master upon his possessions, he answered with a sigh, "My condition has indeed the appearance of happiness, but appearances are delusive.

My prosperity puts my life in danger; the Bassa of Egypt is my enemy, incensed only by my wealth and popularity. I have been hitherto protected against him by the princes of the country; but, as the favour of the great is uncertain, I know not how soon my defenders may be persuaded to share the plunder with the Bassa. I have sent my treasures into a distant country, and, upon the first alarm, am prepared to follow them.

Then will my enemies riot in my mansion, and enjoy the gardens which I have planted. They continued with their kind inviter a few days longer, and then went forward to find the hermit. The happiness of solitude. They came on the third day, by the direction of the peasants, to the Hermit's cell: The first rude essay of nature had been so much improved by human labour, that the cave contained several apartments, appropriated to different uses, and often afforded lodging to travellers, whom darkness or tempests happened to overtake.

The Hermit sat on a bench at the door, to enjoy the coolness of the evening. On one side lay a book with pens and papers, on the other mechanical instruments of various kinds. As they approached him unregarded, the princess observed that he had not the countenance of a man that had found, or could teach, the way to happiness. They saluted him with great respect, which he repaid like a man not unaccustomed to the forms of courts, "My children, said he, if you have lost your way, you shall be willingly supplied with such conveniences for the night as this cavern will afford.

I have all that nature requires, and you will not expect delicacies in a Hermit's cell. They thanked him, and entering, were pleased with the neatness and regularity of the place. The Hermit set flesh and wine before them, though he fed only upon fruits and water. His discourse was chearful without levity, and pious without enthusiasm. He soon gained the esteem of his guests, and the princess repented of her hasty censure. At last Imlac began thus: In my youth I professed arms, and was raised by degrees to the highest military rank.

I have traversed wide countries at the head of my troops, and seen many battles and sieges. At last, being disgusted by the preferent of a younger officer, and feeling that my vigour was beginning to decay, I resolved to close my life in peace, having found the world full of snares, discord, and misery. I had once escaped from the persuit of the enemy by the shelter of this cavern, and therefore chose it for my final residence.

I employed artificers to form it into chambers, and stored it with all that I was likely to want. When the pleasure of novelty went away, I employed my hours in examining the plants which grow in the valley, and the minerals which I collected from the rocks.

But that enquiry is now grown tasteless and irksome. I have been for some time unsettled and distracted: I am sometimes ashamed to think that I could not secure myself from vice, but by retiring from the exercise of virtue, and begin to suspect that I was rather impelled by resentment, than led by devotion, into solitude. My fancy riots in scenes of folly, and I lament that I have lost so much, and have gained so little. In solitude, if I escape the example of bad men, I want likewise the counsel and conversation of the good. I have been long comparing the evils with the advantages of society, and resolve to return into the world tomorrow.

The life of a solitary man will be certainly miserable, but not certainly devout. They heard his resolution with surprise, but, after a short pause, offered to conduct him to Cairo. He dug up a considerable treasure which he had hid among the rocks, and accompanied them to the city, on which, as he approached it, he gazed with rapture.

The happiness of a life led according to nature. Rasselas went often to an assembly of learned men, who met at stated times to unbend their minds, and compare their opinions. Their manners were somewhat coarse, but their conversation was instructive, and their disputations acute, though sometimes too violent, and often continued till neither controvertist remembered upon what question they began. Some faults were almost general among them: In this assembly Rasselas was relating his interview with the hermit, and the wonder with which he heard him censure a course of life which he had so deliberately chosen, and so laudably followed.

The sentiments of the hearers were various. Some were of opinion, that the folly of his choice had been justly punished by condemnation to perpetual perseverance. One of the youngest among them, with great vehemence, pronounced him an hypocrite. Some talked of the right of society to the labour of individuals, and considered retirement as a desertion of duty.

Others readily allowed, that there was a time when the claims of the publick were satisfied, and when a man might properly sequester himself, to review his life, and purify his heart. One, who appeared more affected with the narrative than the rest, thought it likely, that the hermit would, in a few years, go back to his retreat, and, perhaps, if shame did not restrain, or death intercept him, return once more from his retreat into the world: Of the present state, whatever it be, we feel, and are forced to confess, the misery, yet, when the same state is again at a distance, imagination paints it as desirable.

But the time will surely come, when desire will be no longer our torment, and no man shall be wretched but by his own fault. The time is already come, when none are wretched but by their own fault. Nothing is more idle, than to inquire after happiness, which nature has kindly placed within our reach. The way to be happy is to live according to nature, in obedience to that universal and unalterable law with which every heart is originally impressed; which is not written on it by precept, but engraven by destiny, not instilled by education but infused at our nativity.

He that lives according to nature will suffer nothing from the delusions of hope, or importunities of desire: Other men may amuse themselves with subtle definitions, or intricate raciocination. Let them learn to be wise by easier means: Let us therefore, at length, cease to dispute, and learn to live; throw away the incumbrance of precepts, which they who utter them with so much pride and pomp do not understand, and carry with us this simple and intelligible maxim, That deviation from nature is deviation from happiness.

When he had spoken, he looked round him with a placid air, and enjoyed the consciousness of his own beneficence. I doubt not the truth of a position which a man so learned has so confidently advanced. Let me only know what it is to live according to nature. To live according to nature, is to act always with due regard to the fitness arising from the relations and qualities of causes and effects; to concur with the great and unchangeable scheme of universal felicity; to co-operate with the general disposition and tendency of the present system of things. The prince soon found that this was one of the sages whom he should understand less as he heard him longer.

He therefore bowed and was silent, and the philosopher, supposing him satisfied, and the rest vanquished, rose up and departed with the air of a man that had co-operated with the present system. The prince and his sister divide between them the work of observation. Rasselas returned home full of reflexions, doubtful how to direct his future steps. Of the way to happiness he found the learned and simple equally ignorant; but, as he was yet young, he flattered himself that he had time remaining for more experiments, and further enquiries. He communicated to Imlac his observations and his doubts, but was answered by him with new doubts, and remarks that gave him no comfort.

He therefore discoursed more frequently and freely with his sister, who had yet the same hope with himself, and always assisted him to give some reason why, though he had been hitherto frustrated, he might succeed at last. In our own country, though we had royalty, we had no power, and in this we have not yet seen the private recesses of domestick peace. Imlac favours not our search, lest we should in time find him mistaken. We will divide the task between us: Perhaps command and authority may be the supreme blessings, as they afford most opportunities of doing good: The prince examines the happiness of high stations.