Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/215

The misery of avarice For ever is his soul a prey
To anxious care of how he may
Amass more wealth: this mad desire
Doth all his thought and actions fire,
Devising means whereby to stuff
His barns and coffers, for ‘enough’
He ne’er can have, but hungereth yet
His neighbours’ goods and gold to get.5390
It is as though for thirst he fain
Would quaff the volume of the Seine
At one full draught, and yet should fail
To find its waters of avail
To quench his longing. What distress,
What anguish, wrath, and bitterness
Devour the wretch! fell rage and spite
Possess his spirit day and night,
And tear his heart; the fear of want
Pursues him like a spectre gaunt.5400
The more he hath, a wider mouth
He opes, no draught can quench his drouth.

The lawyer likewise, and the leech,
One brush hath tarred them both, for each
Will eagerly for lucre sell
His soul, and both deserve right well
The gibbet. Such foul greed for gain
The one devoureth, that he fain
For one sick man would have two-score,
And t’other longs that thirty more5410
Were tacked to every cause he pleads;
Nay, multiplied by tens, their needs
Were yet unsatisfied, so bold
Their lust and hunger is for gold.