Page:The Works of Abraham Cowley - volume 1 (ed. Aikin) (1806).djvu/259

"Thou prodigal! who didst so loosely waste
"Of all thy youthful years the good estate;
"Art thou return'd here, to repent too late,
"And gather husks of learning up at last,
"Now the rich harvest-time of life is past,
"And winter marches on so fast?
"But, when I meant t' adopt thee for my son,
"And did as learn'd a portion assign,
"As ever any of the mighty Nine
"Had to their dearest children done;
"When I resolv'd t'exalt thy' anointed name,
Among the spiritual lords of peaceful fame;
"Thou changeling! thou, bewitch'd with noise and show
"Wouldst into courts and cities from me go;
"Wouldst see the world abroad, and have a share
"In all the follies and the tumults there:
"Thou wouldst, forsooth, be something in a state,
"And business thou wouldst find, and wouldst create:
"Business! the frivolous pretence
"Of human lusts, to shake off innocence;
"Business! the grave impertinence;
"Business! the thing which I of all things hate;
"Business! the contradiction of thy fate.

"Go, renegado! cast up thy account,
"And see to what amount
"Thy foolish gains by quitting me:
"The sale of Knowledge, Fame, and Liberty,
"The fruits of thy unlearn'd apostacy.