Ruffhead, James

The Passions of Man. A Poem. In Four Epistles

London

Printed for the Author

1746

"See other planets, suns, and systems roll, / And with celestial science-feast the soul,/ Low as the earth-ambition sinks again, / And what was thought a pleasure proves a pain."

Opinion often makes a Solon rave,
And sinks him quite beneath-his meanest slave.
Opinions - or from pride, or lucre rise,
Are diversify'd with endless dyes,
Like fashions vary, change with every wind,
Alike to orthodox, and reason - blind.
Opinions - still distract the learned most,
But fully half the knowledge that they boast;
Bright as the radiant morn- tho' these appear,
What blots infect 'em-when you view 'em near!
Tho' these expatiate hence, ascending rise,
And in the search of wisdom-scale the skies,
See other planets, suns, and systems roll,
And with celestial science-feast the soul,
Low as the earth-ambition sinks again,
And what was thought a pleasure proves a pain.
(p. 12, in. 119)

Body::Eating and Drinking::Feast

Gale's Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO).

At least 2 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1746, 1747).

James Ruffhead, The Passions of Man. A Poem. In Four Epistles (London: Printed for the Author, 1746). <Link to ECCO>

01/06/2004