Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON BRUTUS, AN ODE: HEAVY GOING, by JOHN SHEFFIELD



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ON BRUTUS, AN ODE: HEAVY GOING, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: From mighty caesar, and his boundless grace
Last Line: And if, alas, he fail'd, 'twas only by mistake.
Alternate Author Name(s): Buckingham & Normandy, 1st Duke Of
Subject(s): Brutus (marcus Junius Brutus); Errors; Friendship - False Friends; Ingratitude; Mistakes; Fallacies; Fair Weather Friends; Ungratefulness


FROM mighty Cæsar, and his boundless grace,
Tho' Brutus once, at least, his life receiv'd,
Such obligations, tho' so high believ'd,
Are yet but slight in such a case.
Where friendship so possesses all the place,
There is no room for gratitude, since he,

Who so obliges, is more pleas'd than his sav'd friend can be. ...
From such a friendship unprovok'd to fall
Is horrid, yet I wish the fact were all,
Which does with too much cause ungrateful Brutus call. ...

He whom thus Brutus doom'd to bleed,
Did, setting his own race aside,
Nothing less for him provide,
Than in the world's great empire to succeed;
Which we are bound in justice to allow
Is all-sufficient proof to show
That Brutus did not strike for his own sake:
And if, alas, he fail'd, 'twas only by mistake.





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