WHAT men gain fairly, that they should possess; And children may inherit idleness, From him who earns it -- this is understood; Private injustice may be general good. But he who gains by base and armed wrong, Or guilty fraud, or base compliances, May be despoiled; even as a stolen dress Is stripped from a convicted thief, and he Left in the nakedness of infamy. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EXILE OF ERIN by THOMAS CAMPBELL HYMN TO THE NIGHT by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW EPIGRAM ON QUEEN CAROLINE'S DEATHBED by ALEXANDER POPE AFTER LONG SILENCE by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE FUGITIVE by LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA HYMNE (TO BE SUNG WITH THREE VOICES) by JOSEPH BEAUMONT |