The "busy Statesman's mind" may grow putrid on the throne of power so that "Fresh vices spring up ev'ry hour; / As in dead corses serpents breed, / And loathsome, on corruption feed"
— Derrick, Samuel (1724-1769)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the author; And sold by A. Millar
Date
1755
Metaphor
The "busy Statesman's mind" may grow putrid on the throne of power so that "Fresh vices spring up ev'ry hour; / As in dead corses serpents breed, / And loathsome, on corruption feed"
Metaphor in Context
Ambition, first, at large behold,
And an insatiate thirst of gold;
Dissimulation next appears,
Which ev'ry thought and action steers;
Then Pride erects her lofty head,
By Fortune's ill-plac'd bounty fed,
Who with an eye of stern command,
Deals out oppression o'er the land;
Fierce Cruelty on her attends,
For she and Pride are always friends;
These are the attributes we find,
That form the busy Statesman's mind,
Grown putrid on the throne of pow'r,
Fresh vices spring up ev'ry hour;
As in dead corses serpents breed,
And loathsome, on corruption feed.
And an insatiate thirst of gold;
Dissimulation next appears,
Which ev'ry thought and action steers;
Then Pride erects her lofty head,
By Fortune's ill-plac'd bounty fed,
Who with an eye of stern command,
Deals out oppression o'er the land;
Fierce Cruelty on her attends,
For she and Pride are always friends;
These are the attributes we find,
That form the busy Statesman's mind,
Grown putrid on the throne of pow'r,
Fresh vices spring up ev'ry hour;
As in dead corses serpents breed,
And loathsome, on corruption feed.
Categories
Provenance
HDIS
Citation
See A Collection of Original Poems. By Samuel Derrick. (London: Printed for the Author; and sold by A. Millar, in the Strand, 1755). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/09/2004
