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246
FAME AND FRIENDSHIP.
The world doth name thee now, and idle men
Exalt their critic skill in praising thee:
At all their words my heart doth bound again;
And praise begetteth praise, as this should be.
Exalt their critic skill in praising thee:
At all their words my heart doth bound again;
And praise begetteth praise, as this should be.
Yet I remember with a jealous love
What time thine unmined wealth lay less in view;
And I was fain the envious clods to move,
And point the hidden diamonds clear as dew.
What time thine unmined wealth lay less in view;
And I was fain the envious clods to move,
And point the hidden diamonds clear as dew.
Methought men's souls, unquestioning of art,
Were then as void of pulse as stock or stone;
Yet, gathering all thy glories in my heart,
My slender trump uplifted them alone.
Were then as void of pulse as stock or stone;
Yet, gathering all thy glories in my heart,
My slender trump uplifted them alone.
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So, when the arena rings with plaudits loud,
Hear my heart's whisper through the noisy throng;
And let thy fancies, running o'er the crowd,
Pause where the rites of gratitude belong.
Hear my heart's whisper through the noisy throng;
And let thy fancies, running o'er the crowd,
Pause where the rites of gratitude belong.
For I have been a mother to thy fame,
Coaxing with gentle touch the grasp of Fate;
Till, holding high the blazon of thy name,
I cried to all the world, “He shall be great!”
Coaxing with gentle touch the grasp of Fate;
Till, holding high the blazon of thy name,
I cried to all the world, “He shall be great!”
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