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ADVICE TO THE EXTRAVAGANT, PROUD AND IDLE.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ADVICE TO THE EXTRAVAGANT, PROUD AND IDLE.

There is a time for labor,
There is a time to play,
To use the sword or sabre,
And spurn the ills away.

97

Fools may try to detain you,
But disregard the snare,
And let them not constrain you
To leave a task so dear.
Then what is this in nature
That constitutes a bliss?
We say to every creature,
The truth lies but in this:
If you depend on giving,
You will yourself deceive,
Or sacrifice your living,
And bring yourself to grieve.
There is not one in twenty
That e'er has much to spare,
Tho' he has moderate plenty;
But stop the matter there;
Had you not play'd with folly,
It might with you be well;
For now you might be jolly
With corn and wheat to sell.
The sting of ev'ry evil,
From idle chat came in,
Conversing with the devil,
The base of every sin,
You miss the road to pleasure,
And take the meaning wrong,
Or turn the word to leisure,
And idly pass along.
Then do not pride in giving
Your little mites away,
For friends destroy your living,
But none your debts will pay;

98

You'd best not, tho' you love it,
Full tables to display,
For soon your friends will covet
Your living all away.