Classic Poem

If you say you will give what you can and when you cannot give
to anyone, explaining that you have nothing, you say no—
these are the two modes of benevolence proper to manhood!
If you say you will give when you cannot, or claiming that you
have nothing, you say no when really you could give—these,
at once! are two ways you injure those who come to you in need,
though they are also the means to destroy the good name of benefactors!
But let that be as it may! Even if we have never seen this before,
those of our clan are now seeing it here for the first time!
But we hope your children stay free of disease! I will not
lose heart and give up because of the sun's heat! I will not
turn torpid because of the cold. Thinking of my delicate woman
with her glowing face, who shows her purity only in her modesty, living
in a house that merely wards off the wind due to my poverty
which seems made of rock, I will move on! May you enjoy fine days!