"O may not gold, according to its kind, / Twist round your heart, and grow upon your mind!"
— Wesley, Samuel, the Younger (1691-1739)
Date
1862
Metaphor
"O may not gold, according to its kind, / Twist round your heart, and grow upon your mind!"
Metaphor in Context
Open, in full proportion to your store,
Your bounteous heart and hospitable door.
Nor e'er to serve your need exactly aim:
'Tis always needful to secure your fame.
Wealth is the means of life, and not the end;
And who deserves it, shares it with his friend.
O may not gold, according to its kind,
Twist round your heart, and grow upon your mind!
Should e'er your soul stoop to so poor a vice,
That paltry crime of Dutchmen, avarice;
To heap up treasure may you then go on,
Wealthy as Harcourt grow, without a son;
Or, Heaven's high wrath more plainly to declare,
Have Walpole's riches, and have Walpole's heir.
Your bounteous heart and hospitable door.
Nor e'er to serve your need exactly aim:
'Tis always needful to secure your fame.
Wealth is the means of life, and not the end;
And who deserves it, shares it with his friend.
O may not gold, according to its kind,
Twist round your heart, and grow upon your mind!
Should e'er your soul stoop to so poor a vice,
That paltry crime of Dutchmen, avarice;
To heap up treasure may you then go on,
Wealthy as Harcourt grow, without a son;
Or, Heaven's high wrath more plainly to declare,
Have Walpole's riches, and have Walpole's heir.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Text from Poems on Several Occasions. By Samuel Wesley. A New Edition, Including Many Pieces Never Before Published. Edited, and Illustrated With Copious Notes, by the Late James Nichols. With a Life of the Author by William Nichols. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1862).
Date of Entry
05/31/2005
