Poems of James Clarence Mangan (Many hitherto uncollected): Centenary edition: Edited, with preface and notes by D. J. O'Donoghue: Introduction by John Mitchel |
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ANOTHER SONG FROM THE SAME COPTIC. |
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 | Poems of James Clarence Mangan |  |
264
ANOTHER SONG FROM THE SAME COPTIC.
Go!—but heed and understandThis my last and best command:
Turn thine Youth to such advantage
As that no reverse shall daunt Age.
Learn the serpent's wisdom early;
And contemn what Time destroys;
Also, wouldst thou creep or climb,
Chuse thy rôle, and chuse in time,
Since the scales of Fortune rarely
Show a liberal equipoise.
Thou must either soar or stoop,
Fall or triumph, stand or droop;
Thou must either serve or govern,
Must be slave, or must be sovereign,
Must in fine, be block or wedge,
Must be anvil or be sledge.
| Poems of James Clarence Mangan | |