Sensibility or Indifference—Lord Erskine.
Lines by Lord Erskine, on being asked whether he preferred great Sensibility or Indifference.
The heart can ne’er a transport know,
That never felt a pain;
That point thus settled long ago,
The present question’s vain.
Who’d wish to travel life’s dull round,
Unmov’d by pain or pleasure?
’Tis reason’s task to set the bound,
And keep them all in measure.
The Stoic who with false pretence
Each soft emotion stifles,
Thinks want of feeling shows his sense,
Yet frets and fumes at trifles.
And he, who vainly boasts the heart
Touch’d by each tale of woe,
Forbears to act the friendly part
That tender heart to show.
Th’ unfeeling heart can never know,
By cold indifference guarded,
The joy, the transport, that will flow
From love and truth rewarded.
True sensibility we find
Shares in another’s grief;
And pity yields the generous mind
From sympathy relief.
The point discussed, we find this rule,
A rule both true and sad;
Who feels too little is—a fool;
Who feels too much—runs mad.