The Knickerbocker Gallery/To a Rich Rascal
To A Rich Rascal.
By T. W. Parsons.
Well, I have wrought in many ways, A humble workman, day and night;My wages, partly it was praise, And part was metal round and bright.
Whate'er I got of yellow gains, 'Tis gone—all spent! and I am poor:But what I earned of praise remains, And of one loving heart I'm sure.
This is the sum of all my toil: A name—a pleasing shape of sound—While thou art rich in stocks and soil, Fat acres of unmeasured ground.
Yet, Dives! think not I would change This poverty and soul of mineFor all the lands where widely range Thy herds of unrecorded kine.
Since all thy fortune could not buy My spirits, or thy footman's health,Or bribe thy lowly tenant nigh To bid God's blessing on thy wealth.
And I, blithe beggar as I seem, Am rich in friendships, though but few;Nor comes there to disturb my dream The nightly fiend that troubles you.