Alexander Pope

Say, will the falcon, stooping from above,
Smit with her varying plumage, spare the dove?
Admires the read more

Say, will the falcon, stooping from above,
Smit with her varying plumage, spare the dove?
Admires the jay the insect's gilded wings?
Or hears the hawk when Philomela sings?

In Faith and Hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind's concern is charity.

In Faith and Hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind's concern is charity.

Shall I, like Curtius, desperate in my zeal,
O'er head and ears plunge for the common weal?
read more

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?

A long, exact, and serious comedy;
In every scene some moral let it teach,
And, if it read more

A long, exact, and serious comedy;
In every scene some moral let it teach,
And, if it can, at once both please and preach.

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?