Truth in Fiction Or, Morality in Masquerade. A Collection of Two hundred twenty five Select Fables of Aesop, and other Authors. Done into English Verse. By Edmund Arwaker |
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 | Truth in Fiction |  |
108
The MORAL.
‘Poor Men, with Rich, in ill-match'd Friendships join'd,‘Are Gally-Slaves in Golden-Chains confin'd;
‘Who, tho' their Fetters make a splendid Show,
‘Are, at another's Pleasure, bound to Row.
‘The Poor Man, as the Rich direct him, steers;
‘He, hapless Wretch, must have no Will, but theirs;
‘While all the Good his Slavery affords,
‘Is, the bare Smile and Count'nance of his Lords.
‘And tho' the Mighty thus the Mean oppress,
‘They, with less harm, submit, than seek Redress:
‘And, when they have Occasion to Complain,
‘Must Praise the Pow'r whence they the Wrong sustain.
‘Like Flyes with Torches, Subjects deal with Kings;
‘By a too near Approach, they singe their Wings:
‘Free and secure, they at a distance flie;
‘But, if they dally with the Flame, they die.
‘A Prince's Smiles, his Fav'rites shou'd invite
‘T'admire, not grow familiar with, his Light;
‘Lest (as the Sun strikes close Observers blind)
‘In their Encroachment, they their Ruin find.
‘Wou'dst thou, among the Great, in Favour live;
‘The Injuries they do, with Thanks receive:
‘Dissemble Wrongs; seem not their Faults to see;
‘Be thou their Servant, they'll be Friends to thee.
| Truth in Fiction | |