Alexander Pope

Health consists with Temperance alone.

Health consists with Temperance alone.

Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?

Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?

But see, the shepherds shun the noonday heat,
The lowing herds to murmuring brooks retreat,
To closer read more

But see, the shepherds shun the noonday heat,
The lowing herds to murmuring brooks retreat,
To closer shades the panting flocks remove;
Ye gods! and is there no relief for love?

Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could fix,
Of crooked counsels and dark politics.

Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could fix,
Of crooked counsels and dark politics.

Judges and senates have been bought for gold;
Esteem and love were never to be sold.

Judges and senates have been bought for gold;
Esteem and love were never to be sold.