 | Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose |  |
445
Courage
Mens Courage is not Limited, between
The Periods, of Sixty and Sixteen;
In which The yonge, are Entred in the List,
And when th' have servd so many years, Dismist:
The only Trade that men begin so yongue,
To serve a Prentiship, that lasts so longe.
The Periods, of Sixty and Sixteen;
In which The yonge, are Entred in the List,
And when th' have servd so many years, Dismist:
The only Trade that men begin so yongue,
To serve a Prentiship, that lasts so longe.
Life may be boldly taken from Superiors,
But never Given, but to mean Inferiors.
But never Given, but to mean Inferiors.
Some warlike Nations have Receipts for Courage,
By seasoning, with Gunpowder, their Porrige,
That Renderd Cowards Bold, as if th' had layd
The Devill, in the Pummel of a Blade.
That in the Fortresses, upon their Backs
Instead of Belts weare mighty Zodiacks,
In which they Paltry little Cutlaus ty
Like th' Antique Cabales in a Needles eie;
That out of Politiques, make Choyce of those
As Proprest Engines to Encounter Fo's,
That, if their Courage should (by Chance) miscarry
Against too Confident an Adversary,
Th' excuse of all the Feat of Armes ly
I' th' feeble weapons Imbecility.
By seasoning, with Gunpowder, their Porrige,
That Renderd Cowards Bold, as if th' had layd
The Devill, in the Pummel of a Blade.
That in the Fortresses, upon their Backs
Instead of Belts weare mighty Zodiacks,
In which they Paltry little Cutlaus ty
Like th' Antique Cabales in a Needles eie;
That out of Politiques, make Choyce of those
As Proprest Engines to Encounter Fo's,
That, if their Courage should (by Chance) miscarry
Against too Confident an Adversary,
Th' excuse of all the Feat of Armes ly
I' th' feeble weapons Imbecility.
| Satires and miscellaneous poetry and prose | |