Page:Works of Voltaire Volume 36.djvu/140

That his arms could both France and Italia confound;
That with wealth his exchequer would ever abound;
That Solomon ne'er had so much wealth of old,
Though the torrent of Kedron o'er golden sands rolled.
Alamon—for by that name this prince we must call—
Still was dupe to gross flatteries, for he swallowed them all,
With pastimes delighted, court buffoons he caressed,
And when he had dined thought his people were blessed.
One valiant old general at court still remained,
Ernon, greatly esteemed when the duke's father reigned,
Who not being bribed spoke his mind uncontrolled,
And undaunted, the government's ruin foretold.
To jealousy roused, those who bore supreme sway
Soon found means to remove Ernon out of the way;
Unknown to the prince he to exile was sent,
But there at a farm the old man lived content;
There with friends he lived happy, resigned to his fate,
And he wept for his master as well as the state;
Whilst with sloth and with pleasure the young duke content,
On the down of soft ease both his days and nights spent.
The murmurs by which oft his subjects expressed
Discontent, would however sometimes break his rest,
But that distant din, which he hardly could hear,
Grows weak in its course, and scarce beats on his ear;