Pastorals Epistles Odes (1748)/On Wit and Wisdom. A Fragment

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On Wit and Wisdom.
A FRAGMENT.

IN search of wisdom far from wit I fly:
Wit is a harlot, beauteous to the eye,
In whose bewitching arms our early time
We waste, and vigour of our youthful prime: 4
But when reflexion comes with riper years,
And manhood with a thoughtful brow appears,
We cast the mistress off to take a wife,
And, wed to wisdom, lead a happy life.8