Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
V. Cautions and ComplaintsTo Chloe
John Wolcot (Peter Pindar) (17381819)C
Forever toying, ogling, kissing, billing;
The joys for which I thousands would have given,
Will presently be scarcely worth a shilling.
And, sweetly swelling, beats the down of doves;
Thy cheek of health, a rival to the rose;
Thy pouting lips, the throne of all the loves;
Yet, though thus beautiful beyond expression,
That beauty fadeth by too much possession.
Much like economy in worldly matter;
We should be prudent, never live too fast;
Profusion will not, cannot always last.
Nothing their thoughtless, wild career can tame,
Till penury stares them in the face;
And when they find an empty purse,
And, limping, look with such a sneaking grace!
Job’s war-horse fierce, his neck with thunder hung,
Sunk to an humble hack that carries dung.
Smell twenty times—and then, my dear, thy nose
Will tell thee (not so much for scent athirst)
The twentieth drank less flavor than the first.
Yet often should the little god retire.
Absence, dear Chloe, is a pair of bellows,
That keeps alive the sacred fire.