Ballads for the Times (Now first collected,) Geraldine, A Modern Pyramid, Bartenus, A Thousand Lines, and other poems. By Martin F. Tupper. A new Edition, enlarged and revised |
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Reserve.
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 | Ballads for the Times |  |
Reserve.
Thou dark and frozen fiend, Love's mortal bane,Lethargic poison of the moral sense,
Killing those high-soul'd children of the brain
Warm enterprise and noble confidence,
Fly from my threshold, traitor, get thee hence!
Without thee, we are open, cheerful, kind,
Mistrusting none but self, injurious self,
Of and to others wishing only good;
With thee, suspicions crowd the gloomy mind,
Suggesting all the world a viperous brood,
That acts a base bad part in hope of pelf:
Virtue stands shamed, Truth mute misunderstood,
Honour unhonour'd, Courage lacking nerve,
Beneath thy dull domestic curse, Reserve!
| Ballads for the Times | |