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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ODE ON AMBITION, by JAMES MARRIOTT
First Line: In vain heaven tempers life with sweet
Last Line: Quits not, with all his canvas spread, the shore.
Alternate Author Name(s): Marriott, Sir Jame
Subject(s): Ambition
First Line: In vain heaven tempers life with sweet
Last Line: Quits not, with all his canvas spread, the shore.
Alternate Author Name(s): Marriott, Sir Jame
Subject(s): Ambition
In vain heaven tempers life with sweet,
With flowers the way that leads us home bestrews,
If dupes to passion and deceit,
We drink the bitter and the rugged choose.
But than what greatness gives revere,
Not seek, too feeble to sustain.
Through dangerous rocks let others steer
And trust their vessels to the stormy main.
Happy, great master of his mind,
The man who, guided by Discretion's lore,
Still mindful of the flattering wind,
Quits not, with all his canvas spread, the shore.
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