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Gold! Gold! Gold! Bright and yellow, hard and cold.
Gold! Gold! Gold! Bright and yellow, hard and cold.
 I see, the jewel best enamelled
 Will lose his beauty; yet the gold bides still
  That others read more 
 I see, the jewel best enamelled
 Will lose his beauty; yet the gold bides still
  That others touch, and often touching will
   Wear gold; and no man that hath a name,
    By falsehood and corruption doth it shame. 
 You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of 
thorns--you shall not crucify mankind upon read more 
 You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of 
thorns--you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold! 
 Gold gives to the ugliest thing a certain charming air,
 For that without it were else a miserable affair.
read more 
 Gold gives to the ugliest thing a certain charming air,
 For that without it were else a miserable affair.
  [Fr., L'or donne aux plus laids certain charme pour plaire,
   Et que sans lui le reste est une triste affaire.] 
 Commerce has set the mark of selfishness,
 The signet of its all-enslaving power
  Upon a shining ore, read more 
 Commerce has set the mark of selfishness,
 The signet of its all-enslaving power
  Upon a shining ore, and called it gold;
   Before whose image bow the vulgar great,
    The vainly rich, the miserable proud,
     The mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and kings,
      And with blind feelings reverence the power
       That grinds them to the dust of misery.
        But in the temple of their hireling hearts
         Gold is a living god, and rules in scorn
          All earthly things but virtue. 
Curst greed of gold, what crimes thy tyrant power has caused.
Curst greed of gold, what crimes thy tyrant power has caused.
 What female heart can gold despise?
 What cat's averse to fish?  
 What female heart can gold despise?
 What cat's averse to fish? 
There is thy gold; worse poison to men's souls, Doing more murther in this loathsome world, Than these poor compounds read more
There is thy gold; worse poison to men's souls, Doing more murther in this loathsome world, Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell:.