Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A SPENDTHRIFT, by EDWARD GEORGE EARLE LYTTON BULWER-LYTTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A SPENDTHRIFT, by                 Poet's Biography
First Line: You have outrun your fortune
Last Line: Minus one crown, two liards!
Alternate Author Name(s): Bulwer, Edward; Lytton Of Knebworth, 1st Baron; Lytton, Edward George Earle Bulwer, Lord
Subject(s): Spendthrifts


You have outrun your fortune;
I blame you not, that you would be a beggar;
Each to his taste! But I do charge you, sir,
That, being beggar'd, you would coin false moneys
Out of that crucible call'd DEBT. To live
On means not yours; be brave in silks and laces,
Gallant in steeds, splendid in banquets; all
Not yours, ungiven, uninherited, unpaid for;
This is to be a trickster, and to filch
Men's art and labour which to them is wealth,
Life, daily bread; quitting all scores with, "Friend,
You're troublesome!" Why this, forgive me,
Is what, when done with a less dainty grace,
Plain folks call "Theft!" You own eight thousand pistoles,
Minus one crown, two liards!





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