Classic Poem

Although thy ruler frown, yet do not thou
Resent his anger with a cloudy brow;
Nor with obedience or thy faith dispense;
For yielding pacifies a great offence.
This in a state no small disorder breeds,
Which from the error of the prince proceeds:
When vicious fools in dignity are plac'd.
The rich in worth trod under and disgrac'd.
Oft have I servants seen on horses ride,
The free and noble lackey by their side.
Who snares for others sets therein shall light:
Who breaks a hedge, him shall the serpent bite.
The stones shall bruise him who pulls down a wall:
Who hews a tree, by his own axe shall fall.
If th' edge be blunt, in vain his strength he spends;
But Wisdom all directs to their just ends.
If serpents bite before the charm be sung,
What then avails th' enchanter's babbling tongue?
A wise man's words are full of grace and pow'r:
A fool's offending lips himself devour.
His words begin in folly; which extend
To acts of mischief, and in madness end.
He gives his tongue the reins; as if he knew
More than man knows — th' events that must ensue.
Who in the endless maze of error treads,
Nor knows the way which to his purpose leads.
Woe to that land, that miserable land,
Which gasps beneath a child's unstaid command:
Whose nobles rise by times to perpetrate
Their luxuries; the ruin of the state.
Happy that land, whose king is nobly born;
Whose lords with temperance his court adorn.
By sloth's supine neglects the building falls:
The hands of idleness pull down her walls.
Feasts are for laughter made; wine cheers our hearts:
But sov'reign money all to all imparts.
Curse not thy rulers though with vices fraught,
Not in thy bed-chamber, nor in thy thought;
For birds will bear thy whisp'rings on their wings,
To the wide ears of death-inflicting kings.