The Poets’ “Essay on Man” Cento by James Monk, c.1873
February 27, 2016
What strange infatuation rules mankind, —Chatterton
What different spheres to human bliss assigned; —Rogers
To loftier things your finer pulses burn, —Chas. Sprague
If man would but his finer nature learn; —R. H. Dana
What several ways men to their calling have, —Ben Jonson
And grasp at life though sinking to the grave. —Falconer
Ask what is human life? the sage replies,—Cowper
Wealth, pomp, and honour, are but empty toys; —Fergusson
We trudge, we travel, but from pain to pain, —Quarles
Weak, timid landsmen on life’s stormy main; —Burns
We only toil who are the first of things, —Tennyson
From labour health, from health contentment springs. — Beattie
Fame runs before us as the morning star, —Dryden
How little do we know that which we are; —Byron
Let none then here his certain knowledge boast, —Pomfret
Of fleeting joys too certain to be lost; —Waller
For over all there hangs a cloud of fear, —Hood
All is but change and separation here. —Steele
To smooth life’s passage o’er its stormy way,—Tim Dwight
Sum up at night what thou hast done by day; —Herbert
Be rich in patience if thou in gudes be poor; —Dunbar
So many men do stoope to sight unsure; —Geff. Whitney
Choose out the man to virtue best inclined, —Rowe
Throw envy, folly, prejudice behind; —Langhorne
Defer not till to-morrow to be wise, —Congreve
Wealth heap’d on wealth, nor truth, nor safety buys; —Dr. Johnson
Remembrance worketh with her busy train, —Goldsmith
Care draws on care, woe comforts woe again; —Drayton
On high estates huge heaps of care attend, —Webster
No joy so great but runneth to an end; —Southwell
No hand applaud what honour shuns to hear, —Thomson
Who casts off shame should likewise cast off fear; —Sher. Knowles
Grief haunts us down the precipice of years. —W. S. Landor
Virtue alone no dissolution fears; —Edw. Moore
Time loosely spent will not again be won, —Rob. Greene
What shall I do to be for ever known? —Cowley
But now the wane of life comes darkly on,—Joanna Baillie
After a thousand mazes overgone; —Keats
In this brief state of trouble and unrest, —Bern. Barton
Man never is, but always to be blest; —Pope
Time is the present hour, the past is fled, —Marsden
O thou Futurity, our hope and dread; —Elliot
How fading are the joys we dote upon, —Blair
Lo! while I speak the present moment’s gone. —Oldham
O Thou Eternal Arbiter of things,—Akenside
How awful is the hour when conscience stings! —J. G. Percival
Conscience, stern arbiter in every breast, —J. A. Hillhouse
The fluttering wish on wing that will not rest. —Mallet
This above all,—To thine ownself be true,—Shakspeare
Learn to live well, that thou mayst die so too. —Sir J. Denham
To those that list the world’s gay scenes I leave, —Spenser
Some ills we wish for, when we wish to live. —Young
Ask what is human life? the sage replies,
To smooth life’s passage o’er its stormy way,
But now the wane of life comes darkly on,
O Thou Eternal Arbiter of things,
This above all,—To thine ownself be true,
NOTE: I have not verified that these quotations are accurately worded or attributed. This cento is from Notes and Queries,