Page:The Hind and the Panther - Dryden (1687).djvu/89

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
The Hind and the Panther.
79
When vertue spooms before a prosperous gale
My heaving wishes help to fill the sail;
And if my pray'rs for all the brave were heard,
Cæsar should still have such, and such should still reward.

The labour'd earth your pains have sow'd and till'd:
'Tis just you reap the product of the field.
Yours be the harvest, 'tis the beggars gain
To glean the fallings of the loaded wain.
Such scatter'd ears as are not worth your care,
Your charity for alms may safely spare,
And alms are but the vehicles of pray'r.
My daily bread is litt'rally implor'd,
I have no barns nor granaries to hoard;
If Cæsar to his own his hand extends,
Say which of yours his charity offends:
You know he largely gives, to more than are his friends.
Are you defrauded when he feeds the poor?
Our mite decreases nothing of your store;

I am