190
Two Songs
II
BEAR thyself with formal gait,
Be thy language all sedate;
Thy opinions take on trust,
Take gold for thy only lust.
Shun belief devout or deep,
Ever to the safe side keep;
Let thy hollow laugh be framed
To the joke by all acclaimed.
Never for pure charity
Level a disparity;
Farm thy favour to a fool,
Make his gratitude thy tool.
Let thy conscience be a thing
Like a clock to go, and ring
Just that time the hour doth mark.
Let some other light the dark!
Friend and wife a bargain buy
There where state and money lie
Claim a goodly cenotaph,
Buy a lying epitaph!
