Thus spake my favorite, petted by long love; THE MODERATE MAN. How shall the money flow into my pocket? Money to dress these fair girls of mine finely, Catch a rich suitor, and rivet him fast; Couches of silk to repose on supinely, Wooing the life-joys gone by with the past. Soon my young master asks horses to ease him, Saucy at college, at billiards most brave; Endless devices shall plunder and please him, Youth must have follies, and parents can save. Nay, thou art pampered e'en now out of measure, Dances and festivals bring needless pleasure, See where my lost ones sit low in their mourning, Seeking the boasting, the tinsel, the racket, WARNING. POWER, reft of aspiration; Passion, lacking inspiration; Leisure, not of contemplation. Thus shall danger overcome thee, All divineness vanish from thee. Be a man, and be one wholly ; Keep one great love, purely, solely, Till it make thy nature holy; That thy way be paved in whiteness, That thy heart may beat in lightness, That thy being end in brightness. CONTRASTS. I SHALL not come to the heavenly court As I enter your ball to-night, In tissues wreathed with flowery sport, And jewels of haughty light, Bearing on shoulders stiff and straight Moving with high and measured gait Poor narrow souls! your easy spite I cannot vanish from the fight Other than crowned or slain. |