THERE are who think this scene of life A frightful gladiatorial strife, A struggle for existence, Where class contends with class, and each Must plunder all within his reach, To earn his own subsistence. Shocked at the internecine air Of this Arena, they forswear Its passions and its quarrels; They will not sacrifice, to live, All that to life its charms can give, Nor sell for bread their morals Enthusiasts! check your reveries, Ye cannot always pluck at ease From Pleasure's cornucopia; Ye cannot alter Nature's plan, Change to a perfect being Man, Nor England to Utopia. Plunge in the busy current -- stem The tide of errors ye condemn, And fill life's active uses; Begin reform yourselves, and live To prove that Honesty may thrive Unaided by abuses. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BANNER OF THE JEW by EMMA LAZARUS A LITTLE CHILD'S HYMN; FOR NIGHT AND MORNING by FRANCIS TURNER PALGRAVE THIRD BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 1 by THOMAS CAMPION THE HISTORY OF PAINTING by NATHALIA CRANE COME, HONEST BOYS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES |