"Poor thredbare Vertue ne'er admir'd in Court. / But seeks its Refuge in an honest Mind, / There it securely dwells, / Like Anchorets in Cells / Where no Ambition nor wild Lust resorts."
— Tutchin, John (1661-1707)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed and Sold by E. W.
Date
1696
Metaphor
"Poor thredbare Vertue ne'er admir'd in Court. / But seeks its Refuge in an honest Mind, / There it securely dwells, / Like Anchorets in Cells / Where no Ambition nor wild Lust resorts."
Metaphor in Context
Poor thredbare Vertue ne'er admir'd in Court.
But seeks its Refuge in an honest Mind,
There it securely dwells,
Like Anchorets in Cells,
Where no Ambition nor wild Lust resorts:
To love our Country is indeed our Pride;
We glory in an honest Action done;
When the Reward is laid aside
The Glory and the Action is our own,
We seldom find
The Good, the Just, the Brave,
Have their Reward
From Princes they did save
From dire Destruction, or a poisoning Foe;
They let them go
Contemn'd, disdain'd; and most regard
Those Villians sought their overthrow.
As if the Just, the Brave, the Good,
Were but a Bridge of Wood
To waft to great Preferments o'er,
Those, who were our foes before,
And then be tumbl'd down like useless Logs,
While those, who just pass'd o'er,
And the obliging Bridge shou'd thank,
Do scornfully stand grinning on the Bank,
To see the venerable Ruines float
Adrift upon the Stream,
Contemn'd by them,
Who give the Childrens Bread unto the Dogs;
In vain, says he, we've fought--
But at this Word
He fiercely look'd, and then he grasp'd his Sword.
But seeks its Refuge in an honest Mind,
There it securely dwells,
Like Anchorets in Cells,
Where no Ambition nor wild Lust resorts:
To love our Country is indeed our Pride;
We glory in an honest Action done;
When the Reward is laid aside
The Glory and the Action is our own,
We seldom find
The Good, the Just, the Brave,
Have their Reward
From Princes they did save
From dire Destruction, or a poisoning Foe;
They let them go
Contemn'd, disdain'd; and most regard
Those Villians sought their overthrow.
As if the Just, the Brave, the Good,
Were but a Bridge of Wood
To waft to great Preferments o'er,
Those, who were our foes before,
And then be tumbl'd down like useless Logs,
While those, who just pass'd o'er,
And the obliging Bridge shou'd thank,
Do scornfully stand grinning on the Bank,
To see the venerable Ruines float
Adrift upon the Stream,
Contemn'd by them,
Who give the Childrens Bread unto the Dogs;
In vain, says he, we've fought--
But at this Word
He fiercely look'd, and then he grasp'd his Sword.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
A Pindarick Ode, In the Praise of Folly and Knavery. By Mr. Tutchin (London: E.W., 1696). <Link to EEBO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/25/2004
Date of Review
01/31/2012
