II

O Genius of Hibernia's state,

Sublimely good, severely great,

How doth this latest act excel

All you have done or wrote so well!

Satire may be the child of spite,

And fame might bid the Drapier write:

But to relieve, and to endow,

Creatures that know not whence or how

Argues a soul both good and wise,

Resembling Him who rules the skies,

He to the thoughtful mind displays

Immortal skill ten thousand ways;

And, to complete his glorious task,

Gives what we have not sense to ask!

The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2 · 第 288 / 310 题