Samuel Johnson(1709–1784)

The Vanity of Human Wishes

In Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal8

Let Observation, with extensive view,

Survey mankind, from China to Peru;

Remark e a c h anxious toil, each eager strife,

And watch the busy s c e n e s of crowded life;

T h e n say h o w hope and fear, desire and hate

O'erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate,

W h e r e wavering man, betrayed by venturous pride

To tread the dreary paths without a guide,

As treacherous phantoms in the mist delude,

Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good;

How rarely Reason guides the stubborn choice,

Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant voice;

How nations sink, by darling schemes oppressed,

When Vengeance listens to the fool's request.9

Fate wings with every wish the afflictive dart,

Each gift of nature, and each grace of art;1

With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,

With fatal sweetness elocution flows,

Impeachment stops the speaker's powerful breath,

And restless fire precipitates on death.2

But scarce observed, the knowing and the bold

Fall in the general massacre of gold;

Wide-wasting pest! that rages unconfined,

And crowds with crimes the records of mankind;

For gold his sword the hireling ruffian draws,

For gold the hireling judge distorts the laws;

Wealth heaped on wealth, nor truth nor safety buys,

The dangers gather as the treasures rise.

Let History tell where rival kings command,

And dubious title shakes the madded land,

When statutes glean the refuse of the sword,

How much more safe the vassal than the lord,

Low skulks the hind 0 beneath the rage of power,-peasant

And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tower,3

Untouched his cottage, and his slumbers sound,

Though Confiscation's vultures hover round.

The needy traveler, serene and gay,

Walks the wild heath, and sings his toil away.

Does envy seize thee crush the upbraiding joy,

Increase his riches and his peace destroy;

New fears in dire vicissitude invade,

The rustling brake 0 alarms, and quivering shade,thicket

Nor light nor darkness bring his pain relief,

One shows the plunder, and one hides the thief.

Yet still one general cry the skies assails,

And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales;

Few know the toiling statesman's fear or care,

The insidious rival and the gaping heir.

Once more, Democritus,4 arise on earth,

With cheerful wisdom and instructive mirth,

See motley life in modern trappings dressed,

And feed with varied fools the eternal jest:

Thou who couldst laugh where Want enchained Caprice,

Toil crushed Conceit, and man was of a piece;

Where Wealth unloved without a mourner died;

And scarce a sycophant was fed by Pride;

W h e r e ne'er was known the form of mock debate,

Or seen a new-made mayor's unwieldy state;pomp

W h e r e change of favorites made no change of laws,

And senates heard before they judged a cause;

H o w wouldst thou shake at Britain's modish tribe,

Dart the quick taunt, and edge the piercing gibe

Attentive truth and nature to descry,

And pierce each scene with philosophic eye,

To thee were solemn toys or empty show

T h e robes of pleasures and the veils of woe:

All aid the farce, and all thy mirth maintain,

W h o s e joys are causeless, or w h o s e griefs are vain.

S u c h was the scorn that filled the sage's mind,

Renewed at every glance on h u m a n kind;

H o w just that scorn ere yet thy voice declare,

Search every state, and canvass every prayer.

U n n u m b e r e d suppliants crowd Preferment's gate,

Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great;

Delusive Fortune hears the incessant call,

They mount, they shine, evaporate, and fall.

On every stage the foes of peace attend,

Hate dogs their flight, and Insult mocks their end.

Love ends with hope, the sinking statesman's door

Pours in the morning worshiper no more; 5

For growing n a m e s the weekly scribbler lies,

To growing wealth the dedicator flies;

From every room descends the painted face,

That h u n g the bright palladium6 of the place;

And smoked in kitchens, or in auctions sold,

To better features yields the frame of gold;

For n o w no more we trace in every line

Heroic worth, benevolence divine:

T h e form distorted justifies the fall,

And Detestation rids the indignant wall.

But will not Britain hear the last appeal,

Sign her foes' doom, or guard her favorites' zeal

Through Freedom's sons no more remonstrance rings,

Degrading nobles and controlling kings;

Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats,

And ask no questions but the price of votes,

W i t h weekly libels and septennial ale.7

Their wish is full to riot and to rail.satisfied

In full-blown dignity, see Wolsey8 stand,

Law in his voice, and fortune in his hand:

To him the church, the realm, their powers consign,

Through him the rays of regal bounty shine;

Turned by his nod the stream of honor flows,

His smile alone security bestows:

Still to new heights his restless wishes tower,

Claim leads to claim, and power advances power;

Till conquest unresisted ceased to please,

And rights submitted, left him none to seize.

At length his sovereign frowns—the train of state9

Mark the keen glance, and watch the sign to hate.

Where'er he turns, he meets a stranger's eye,

His suppliants scorn him, and his followers fly;

At once is lost the pride of awful state,

The golden canopy, the glittering plate,

The regal palace, the luxurious board,table

The liveried army, and the menial lord.

With age, with cares, with maladies oppressed,

He seeks the refuge of monastic rest.

Grief aids disease, remembered folly stings,

And his last sighs reproach the faith of kings.

Speak thou, whose thoughts at humble peace repine,com-plain

Shall Wolsey's wealth, with Wolsey's end be thine

Or liv'st thou now, with safer pride content,

The wisest justice on the banks of Trent1

For why did Wolsey, near the steeps of fate,

On weak foundations raise the enormous weight

Why but to sink beneath misfortune's blow,

With louder ruin to the gulfs below

What gave great Villiers2 to the assassin's knife,

And fixed disease on Harley's closing life

What murdered Wentworth, and what exiled Hyde,

By kings protected and to kings allied

What but their wish indulged in courts to shine,

And power too great to keep or to resign

When first the college rolls receive his name,

The young enthusiast quits his ease for fame;

Resistless burns the fever of renown

Caught from the strong contagion of the gown:3

O'er Bodley's dome his future labors spread,

And Bacon's mansion trembles o'er his head.4

Are these thy views proceed, illustrious youth,

And Virtue guard thee to the throne of Truth!

Yet should thy soul indulge the generous heat,

Till captive Science yields her last retreat;

Should Reason guide thee with her brightest ray,

And pour on misty Doubt resistless day;

Should no false kindness lure to loose delight,

Nor praise relax, nor difficulty fright;

Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain,-pass by, avoid

And Sloth effuse her opiate fumes in vain;

Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart,

Nor claim the triumph of a lettered heart;

Should no disease thy torpid veins invade,

Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy shade;

Yet hope not life from grief or danger free,

Nor think the doom of man reversed for thee:

Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes,

And pause a while from letters, to be wise;

There mark what ills the scholar's life assail,

Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.

See nations slowly wise, and meanly just,

To buried merit raise the tardy bust.

If dreams yet flatter, once again attend,

Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end.5

Nor deem, when Learning her last prize bestows,

The glittering eminence exempt from foes;

See when the vulgar 'scapes, despised or awed,

Rebellion's vengeful talons seize on Laud.6

From meaner minds though smaller fines content,

The plundered palace, or sequestered7 rent;

Marked out by dangerous parts he meets the shock,

And fatal Learning leads him to the block:

Around his tomb let Art and Genius weep,

But hear his death, ye blockheads, hear and sleep.8

The festal blazes, the triumphal show,

The ravished standard, and the captive foe,

The senate's thanks, the gazette's9 pompous tale,

With force resistless o'er the brave prevail.

Such bribes the rapid Greek1 o'er Asia whirled,

For such the steady Romans shook the world;

For such in distant lands the Britons shine,

And stain with blood the Danube or the Rhine;

This power has praise that virtue scarce can warm,2

Till fame supplies the universal charm.

Yet Reason frowns on War's unequal game,

Where wasted nations raise a single name,

And mortgaged states their grandsires' wreaths regret

From age to age in everlasting debt;

Wreaths which at last the dear-bought right convey

To rust on medals, or on stones decay.

On what foundation stands the warrior's pride,

How just his hopes, let Swedish Charles3 decide;

A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,

No dangers fright him, and no labors tire;

O'er love, o'er fear, extends his wide domain,

Unconquered lord of pleasure and of pain;

No joys to him pacific scepters yield,

War sounds the trump, he rushes to the field;

Behold surrounding kings their powers combine,

And one capitulate, and one resign;4

Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain;

"Think nothing gained, he cries, "till naught remain,

On Moscow's walls till Gothic 0 standards fly,Teutonic

And all be mine beneath the polar sky.

The march begins in military state,

And nations on his eye suspended wait;

Stern Famine guards the solitary coast,

And Winter barricades the realms of Frost;

He comes, nor want nor cold his course delay—

Hide, blushing Glory, hide Pultowa's day:

The vanquished hero leaves his broken bands,

And shows his miseries in distant lands;

Condemned a needy supplicant to wait,

While ladies interpose, and slaves debate.

But did not Chance at length her error mend

Did no subverted empire mark his end

Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound

Or hostile millions press him to the ground

His fall was destined to a barren strand,

A petty fortress, and a dubious hand;

He left the name at which the world grew pale,

To point a moral, or adorn a tale.

All times their scenes of pompous woes afford,

From Persia's tyrant to Bavaria's lord.5

In gay hostility, and barbarous pride,

With half mankind embattled at his side,

Great Xerxes comes to seize the certain prey,

And starves exhausted regions in his way;

Attendant Flattery counts his myriads o'er,

Till counted myriads soothe his pride no more;

Fresh praise is tried till madness fires his mind,

The waves he lashes, and enchains the wind;

New powers are claimed, new powers are still bestowed,

Till rude resistance lops the spreading god;

The daring Greeks deride the martial show,

And heap their valleys with the gaudy foe;

The insulted sea with humbler thought he gains,

A single skiff to speed his flight remains;

The encumbered oar scarce leaves the dreaded coast

Through purple 0 billows and a floating host.blood-stained

The bold Bavarian, in a luckless hour,

Tries the dread summits of Caesarean power,imperial

With unexpected legions bursts away,

And sees defenseless realms receive his sway;

Short sway! fair Austria spreads her mournful charms,

The queen, the beauty, sets the world in arms;

From hill to hill the beacon's rousing blaze

Spreads wide the hope of plunder and of praise;

The fierce Croatian, and the wild Hussar,6

With all the sons of ravage crowd the war;

The baffled prince, in honor's flattering bloom,

Of hasty greatness finds the fatal doom;

His foes' derision, and his subjects' blame,

And steals to death from anguish and from shame.

Enlarge my life with multitude of days!

In health, in sickness, thus the suppliant prays;

Hides from himself his state, and shuns to know,

That life protracted is protracted woe.

Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy,

And shuts up all the passages of joy;

In vain their gifts the bounteous seasons pour,

The fruit autumnal, and the vernal flower;

With listless eyes the dotard views the store,

He views, and wonders that they please no more;

Now pall the tasteless meats, and joyless wines,

And Luxury with sighs her slave resigns.

Approach, ye minstrels, try the soothing strain,

Diffuse the tuneful lenitives 0 of pain:relievers

No sounds, alas! would touch the impervious ear,

Though dancing mountains witnessed Orpheus7 near;

Nor lute nor lyre his feeble powers attend,

Nor sweeter music of a virtuous friend,

But everlasting dictates crowd his tongue,

Perversely grave, or positively wrong.

The still returning tale, and lingering jest,

Perplex the fawning niece and pampered guest,

While growing hopes scarce awe the gathering sneer,

And scarce a legacy can bribe to hear;

The watchful guests still hint the last offense;

The daughter's petulance, the son's expense,

Improve 0 his heady rage with treacherous skill,play upon

And mold his passions till they make his will.

Unnumbered maladies his joints invade,

Lay siege to life and press the dire blockade;

But unextinguished avarice still remains,

And dreaded losses aggravate his pains;

He turns, with anxious heart and crippled hands,

His bonds of debt, and mortgages of lands;

Or views his coffers with suspicious eyes,

Unlocks his gold, and counts it till he dies.

But grant, the virtues of a temperate prime

Bless with an age exempt from scorn or crime;

An age that melts with unperceived decay,

And glides in modest innocence away;

Whose peaceful day Benevolence endears,

Whose night congratulating Conscience cheers;

The general favorite as the general friend:

Such age there is, and who shall wish its end

Yet even on this her load Misfortune flings,

To press the weary minutes' flagging wings;

New sorrow rises as the day returns,

A sister sickens, or a daughter mourns.

Now kindred Merit fills the sable 0 bier,black

Now lacerated Friendship claims a tear;

Year chases year, decay pursues decay,

Still drops some joy from withering life away;

New forms arise, and different views engage,

Superfluous lags the veteran8 on the stage,

Till pitying Nature signs the last release,

And bids afflicted Worth retire to peace.

But few there are whom hours like these await,

Who set unclouded in the gulfs of Fate.

From Lydia's monarch9 should the search descend,

By Solon cautioned to regard his end,

In life's last scene what prodigies surprise,

Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise!

From Marlborough's eyes the streams of dotage flow,

And Swift expires a driveler and a show.'

The teeming mother, anxious for her race,

Begs for each birth the fortune of a face:

Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring;

And Sedley2 cursed the form that pleased a king.

Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,

Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be wise,

Whom Joys with soft varieties invite,

By day the frolic, and the dance by night;

Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,

And ask the latest fashion of the heart;

What care, what rules your heedless charms shall save,

Each nymph your rival, and each youth your slave

Against your fame with Fondness Hate combines,

The rival batters, and the lover mines.undermines

With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,

Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls;

Tired with contempt, she quits the slippery reign,

And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain.

In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,

The harmless freedom, and the private friend.

The guardians yield, by force superior plied:

To Interest, Prudence; and to Flattery, Pride.

Now Beauty falls betrayed, despised, distressed,

And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.

Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find

Must dull Suspense corrupt the stagnant mind

Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,

Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate

Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,

No cries invoke the mercies of the skies

Inquirer, cease; petitions yet remain,

Which Heaven may hear, nor deem religion vain.

Still raise for good the supplicating voice,

But leave to Heaven the measure and the choice.

Safe in His power, whose eyes discern afar

The secret ambush of a specious prayer.

Implore His aid, in His decisions rest,

Secure, whate'er He gives, He gives the best.

Yet when the sense of sacred presence fires,

And strong devotion to the skies aspires,

Pour forth thy fervors for a healthful mind,

Obedient passions, and a will resigned;

For love, which scarce collective man can fill;

For patience sovereign o'er transmuted ill;3

For faith, that panting for a happier seat,

Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat:

These goods for man the laws of Heaven ordain,

These goods He grants, who grants the power to gain;

With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,

And makes the happiness she does not find.