The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys Late Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the Court of Madrid |
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 | The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys |  |
Where art thou, Athens! thy high spirit lost!
Where, Sparta! that defied all Asia's host!
And where (in dust her mould'ring trophies hurl'd)
Imperial Rome, the mistress of the world!
How Lusitania, queen of diamond mines,
(Her glorious Gamas dead) a widow pines!
And will not grave Iberia learn, at length,
In toil, not gold, consists a nation's strength?
How long shall empires feel, destructive sloth!
Thy cank'ring breath, that checks and kills their growth?
If sloth to dissolution yields the prey,
Take but the cause, we take th' effect away.
Where, Sparta! that defied all Asia's host!
And where (in dust her mould'ring trophies hurl'd)
Imperial Rome, the mistress of the world!
How Lusitania, queen of diamond mines,
(Her glorious Gamas dead) a widow pines!
And will not grave Iberia learn, at length,
In toil, not gold, consists a nation's strength?
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Thy cank'ring breath, that checks and kills their growth?
If sloth to dissolution yields the prey,
Take but the cause, we take th' effect away.
| The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys | |