 | Matthew Prior. Poems on Several Occasions |  |
MORAL.
This Commoner has Worth and Parts,
Is prais'd for Arms, or lov'd for Arts:
His Head achs for a Coronet:
And Who is Bless'd that is not Great?
Is prais'd for Arms, or lov'd for Arts:
His Head achs for a Coronet:
And Who is Bless'd that is not Great?
Some Sense, and more Estate, kind Heav'n
To this well-lotted Peer has giv'n:
What then? He must have Rule and Sway:
And all is wrong, 'till He's in Play.
To this well-lotted Peer has giv'n:
What then? He must have Rule and Sway:
And all is wrong, 'till He's in Play.
The Miser must make up his Plumb,
And dares not touch the hoarded Sum:
The sickly Dotard wants a Wife,
To draw off his last Dregs of Life.
And dares not touch the hoarded Sum:
The sickly Dotard wants a Wife,
To draw off his last Dregs of Life.
Against our Peace We arm our Will:
Amidst our Plenty, Something still
For Horses, Houses, Pictures, Planting,
To Thee, to Me, to Him is wanting.
That cruel Something unpossess'd
Corrodes, and levens all the rest.
That Something, if We could obtain,
Would soon create a future Pain:
And to the Coffin, from the Cradle,
'Tis all a Wish, and all a Ladle.
Amidst our Plenty, Something still
For Horses, Houses, Pictures, Planting,
To Thee, to Me, to Him is wanting.
That cruel Something unpossess'd
Corrodes, and levens all the rest.
That Something, if We could obtain,
Would soon create a future Pain:
And to the Coffin, from the Cradle,
'Tis all a Wish, and all a Ladle.
| Matthew Prior. Poems on Several Occasions | |