Page:Ferrier's Works Volume 3 "Philosophical Remains" (1883 ed.).djvu/580

570

. I did not think he would have closed with me.

Bring but the gold, and thou shalt be exposed

Till Florence wide shall ring with thy disgrace.

Thou thoughtest, didst thou, I would sell my birthright,

And tear for gold the laurel from my brow?

Old dotard! dealings such as thine would rob

The light of splendour, and the flower of bloom.

Think'st thou I came to Florence as a huckster—

Not as a painter lit by light from heaven?

I'll teach thee what it is to lay a hand,

Audacious and impure unholy things.

Love thou would'st purchase—thou would'st purchase fame,

And painting's pleasures, shunning all its pains.

The rose thou wishest! thou shalt feel the thorn—

This is a bargain thou shalt long remember.