Stones from The Quarry or, Moods of Mind. By Henry Browne [i.e. Henry Ellison] |
THE “CITY” AT HIGH BUSINESS. |
Stones from The Quarry | ||
98
THE “CITY” AT HIGH BUSINESS.
The human tide runs now at top of flood,Close upon turning-point; and by and by
'Twill ebb, and leave its human foreshores dry.
The main of Life is heaving here for Good
And Evil, high and working; rough and rude,
The jostling waves 'whelm some, some lift on high;
While foam and bubbles of Man's vain hopes fly,
The scud and scum of Fortune's shifting mood.
Upon that seething tide rich argosies,
And thriftless ventures challenge Fortune's smile,
Dangling her golden lures in greedy eyes
Of gambling knaves and fools, both alike vile;
'Mid cries of agony that bubbling rise
From victims, catching at her straws, the while.
Stones from The Quarry | ||