Alexander Pope

What dire Offence from am'rous Causes springs,
What mighty Contests rise from trivial Things.

What dire Offence from am'rous Causes springs,
What mighty Contests rise from trivial Things.

There are, to whom my satire seems too bold;
Scarce to wise Peter complaisant enough,
And something read more

There are, to whom my satire seems too bold;
Scarce to wise Peter complaisant enough,
And something said of Chartres much too rough.

Shall I, like Curtius, desperate in my zeal,
O'er head and ears plunge for the common weal?
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Shall I, like Curtius, desperate in my zeal,
O'er head and ears plunge for the common weal?
Or rob Rome's ancient geese of all their glories,
And cackling save the monarchies of Tories?

Choose a firm cloud before it fall, and in it
Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute.

Choose a firm cloud before it fall, and in it
Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute.

How glowing guilt exalts the keen delight!

How glowing guilt exalts the keen delight!