If thou wilt mighty be, flee from the rage Of cruel will, and see thou keep thee free From the foul yoke of sensual bondage; For though thy empire stretch to Indian sea, And for thy fear trembleth the farthest Thule, If thy desire have over thee the power, Subject then art thou and no governor. If to be noble and high thy mind be moved, Consider well thy ground and thy beginning; For he that hath each star in heaven fixed, And gives the moon her horns and her eclipsing, Alike hath made thee noble in his working, So that wretched no way thou may be, Except foul lust and vice do conquer thee. All were it so thou had a flood of gold Unto thy thirst, yet should it not suffice; And thou with Indian stones, a thousandfold More precious than can thyself devise, Ycharged were thy back, thy covetise And busy biting yet should never let Thy wretched life, ne do thy death profet. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HIS CAVALIER by ROBERT HERRICK THE WINDHOVER: TO CHRIST OUR LORD by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS VOICES OF THE NIGHT: PRELUDE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ON BEING QUIZZED BY BALIEV by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) II PETER II 22 by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |