THE TALENTS.
[_]
IMITATED FROM THE PERSIAN.
Thou that in life's crowded city art arrived, thou know'st not how,
By what path or on what errand—list and learn thine errand now.
From the palace to the city on the business of thy King
Thou wert sent at early morning, to return at evening.
Dreamer waken, loiterer hasten; what thy task is, understand;
Thou art here to purchase substance, and the price is in thy hand.
Has the tumult of the market all thy sense confused and drowned?
Do its glistering wares entice thee? or its shouts and cries confound?
Oh! beware lest thy Lord's business be forgotten, while thy gaze
Is on every show and pageant which the giddy square displays.
Barter not his gold for pebbles; do not trade in vanities
—Pearls there are of price and jewels for the purchase of the wise.
And know this, at thy returning thou wilt surely find the King
With an open book before him, waiting to make reckoning.
Then large honours will the faithful earnest service of one day
Reap of him, but one day's folly largest penalties will pay.
