 | Letters of Laura D'Auverne |  |
187
THE SHIP “EXTRAVAGANCE.”
Oh! Extravagance saileth in climes bright and warm,
She is built for the sunlight, and not for the storm;
Her anchor is gold, and her mainmast is pride,—
Every sheet in the wind doth she dashingly ride!
But Content is a vessel not built for display,
Though she's ready and steady, come storm when it may;
So give us Content as life's channel we steer,—
If our pilot be Caution, we've little to fear!
She is built for the sunlight, and not for the storm;
Her anchor is gold, and her mainmast is pride,—
Every sheet in the wind doth she dashingly ride!
But Content is a vessel not built for display,
Though she's ready and steady, come storm when it may;
So give us Content as life's channel we steer,—
If our pilot be Caution, we've little to fear!
Oh! Extravagance saileth 'mid glitter and show,
As if fortune's rich tide never ebbed in its flow;
But see her at night, when her gold-light is spent,
When her anchor is lost, and her silken sails rent;
When the wave of destruction her shatter'd side drinks,
And the billows—ha! ha!—laugh and shout as she sinks!
No!—give us Content, as life's channel we steer,
While our pilot is Caution, there's little to fear.
As if fortune's rich tide never ebbed in its flow;
But see her at night, when her gold-light is spent,
When her anchor is lost, and her silken sails rent;
When the wave of destruction her shatter'd side drinks,
And the billows—ha! ha!—laugh and shout as she sinks!
No!—give us Content, as life's channel we steer,
While our pilot is Caution, there's little to fear.
| Letters of Laura D'Auverne | |