 | Terrible tractoration, and other poems |  |
262
THE ILLS OF IDLENESS.
What pains and penalties attend
The wight whose being 's aim and end
Is wholly self-enjoyment!
His easy chair becomes a rack,
And all Pandora's plagues attack
The wretch who wants employment.
The wight whose being 's aim and end
Is wholly self-enjoyment!
His easy chair becomes a rack,
And all Pandora's plagues attack
The wretch who wants employment.
To shun the exquisite distress
Which ever waits on idleness,
He flies to dissipation;
Drinks deep to keep his spirits up,
And in the inebriating cup
Drowns health and reputation.
Which ever waits on idleness,
He flies to dissipation;
Drinks deep to keep his spirits up,
And in the inebriating cup
Drowns health and reputation.
And now in Fashion's vortex whirl'd,
A dandy of the genteel world,
He figures in the ton,
The wise man laughs, the simple stare
To see the consequential air
The silly rake puts on.
A dandy of the genteel world,
He figures in the ton,
The wise man laughs, the simple stare
To see the consequential air
The silly rake puts on.
263
Now drives his curricle about
To club, assembly, ball and rout,
To waste his time and treasure;
Gives sensual appetite the reins,
And takes illimitable pains
To seem a man of pleasure.
To club, assembly, ball and rout,
To waste his time and treasure;
Gives sensual appetite the reins,
And takes illimitable pains
To seem a man of pleasure.
The course of life such fools pursue
Would worry down the wand'ring Jew,—
Worse off than galley-slaves!
And ten to one, about the time
The man of virtue 's in his prime,
Such sots are in their graves.
Would worry down the wand'ring Jew,—
Worse off than galley-slaves!
And ten to one, about the time
The man of virtue 's in his prime,
Such sots are in their graves.
But if their days are lengthen'd out,
By dint of constitution stout,
In apathy and pain;
A ruby and carbuncled face
Displays the signal of disgrace
Like mark, erst set on Cain.
By dint of constitution stout,
In apathy and pain;
A ruby and carbuncled face
Displays the signal of disgrace
Like mark, erst set on Cain.
Now dire paralysis and gout
Parade their forces round about
The citadel of life;
In vain the doctor tries his skill;
His obstinate opponents still
Are victors in the strife.
Parade their forces round about
The citadel of life;
In vain the doctor tries his skill;
His obstinate opponents still
Are victors in the strife.
264
Disease, remorse, with joint attack,
Now put at once upon the rack
Their bodies and their souls;
Victims of vice, they suffer more
Than Montezuma did of yore
When stretch'd on burning coals.
Now put at once upon the rack
Their bodies and their souls;
Victims of vice, they suffer more
Than Montezuma did of yore
When stretch'd on burning coals.
| Terrible tractoration, and other poems | |