An enemy I am and friend,
Save life and bring it to an end;
Am hard and soft, amd short and long,
Smooth and uneven, weak and strong.
Both straight & crooked, square & round,
Most wanted where most plenteous found.
Sweet and unsav'ry, cold and warm,
I to all tastes myself conform.
So lax my joints have always been,
I cannot ev'n support a pin;
Yet never fail, of strength so rare,
That none can heavier burdens bear.
For me long journies many take,
Although their homes I ne'er forsake.
Of powers sublime, extensive, deep!
I oft reflect while others sleep;
Subservient, overbearing, proud;
Gentle, impetuous, tranquil,
Many a fair one grants me this
Indulgence, free her lips to kiss;
Many a lovely fair, too, rues
My pow'r, connubial ties to loose.
Me, as a theme for poets, view;
For miracles a subject too;
A fluid, solid, valley, mount,
For works of art of great account,
Music, in all its charming strains,
By my kind aid improvement gains.
Plenty and famine through the land
Go and return at my command.
No doubt, exalted thus in fame,
You must kind reader, know my name.