Alexander Pope

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?

Envy, to which th' ignoble mind's a slave,
Is emulation in the learn'd or brave.

Envy, to which th' ignoble mind's a slave,
Is emulation in the learn'd or brave.

Line after line my gushing eye o'erflow,
Led thro' a said variety of woe:
Now warm in read more

Line after line my gushing eye o'erflow,
Led thro' a said variety of woe:
Now warm in love, now with'ring in my bloom,
Lost in a convent's solitary gloom!

Envy will merit as its shade pursue,
But like a shadow, proves the substance true.

Envy will merit as its shade pursue,
But like a shadow, proves the substance true.

Destroy all creatures for thy sport or gust,
Yet cry, if man's unhappy, God's unjust.

Destroy all creatures for thy sport or gust,
Yet cry, if man's unhappy, God's unjust.