Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SATIRE: 10. CELESTIAL WISDOM, by DECIMUS JUNIUS JUVENALIS



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SATIRE: 10. CELESTIAL WISDOM, by                    
First Line: Must hapless man, in ignorance sedate
Last Line: And makes the happiness she does not find.
Alternate Author Name(s): Juvenal
Subject(s): Death; Knowledge; Love; Dead, The


MUST hapless 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;
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.





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