University of Virginia Library


123

ANCIENT SIMPLICITY.

Folk be too fond of mounting Fortune's wheel;
And though she humbleth thousands in the muck,
Ambition's flame their brenning bosoms feel,
Pardie! they must crawl up, and try their luck.
But when aloft—themselves they scarcely know,
Despisefull squinting on the world below:
But when they tumble, none lament their thrall,
But grin, and point their finger to their fall.
To show that I am now not uttering lies,
I'll tell a little tale in Æsop guise.