DEAR youth, to hoarded wealth a foe, Riches with faded lustre glow; Yes, dim the treasures of the mine, Unless with temperate use they shine. This stamps a value on the gold, So Proculeius thought of old. Soon as this generous Roman saw His father's sons proscrib'd by law, The knight discharg'd a parent's part, They shar'd his fortune and his heart. Hence stands consign'd a brother's name To immortality and fame. Would you true empire ascertain? Curb all immoderate lust of gain: This is the best ambition known, A greater conquest than a throne. For know, should Avarice control, Farewell the triumphs of the soul. This is a dropsy of the mind, Resembling the corporeal kind: For who with this disease are curst, The more they drink, the more they thirst Indulgence feeds their bloated veins, And pale-eyed, sighing languor reigns. Virtue, who differs from the crowd, Rejects the covetous and proud; Disdains the wild ambitious breast, And scorns to call a monarch blest; Labours to rescue truth and sense From specious sounds, and vain pretence. Virtue to that distinguish'd few, Gives royalty, and conquest too; That wise minority, who own, And pay their tribute to her throne; Who view with undesiring eyes, And spurn that wealth which misers prize. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HALF-WAKING by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM TO F - (MRS. FRANCES SARGENT OSGOOD) by EDGAR ALLAN POE ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 32 by PHILIP SIDNEY THIRTY EIGHT. ADDRESSED TO MRS. H -- Y. by CHARLOTTE SMITH DEJECTION by GRACE E. ALBRIGHT FOR NOEL (WHERE A GATE SWINGS EITHER WAY) by BEULAH ALLYNE BELL |