Alexander Pope

From hyperborean skies
Embodied dark, what clouds of vandals rise.

From hyperborean skies
Embodied dark, what clouds of vandals rise.

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?

Be not the first by whom the new are tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

Be not the first by whom the new are tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art.

From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art.

The ruling passion, be it what it will,
The ruling passion conquers reason still.

The ruling passion, be it what it will,
The ruling passion conquers reason still.