Page:Pictures In Rhyme.djvu/45

Rh From a strong-seated learning. The shoulders' slight stoop, Bowed down by the spirits which burden the croup Of his mule in their casings, stiff wood-ribs and hide. The weight of his intellect, learning, and looks, His scrolls and his parchments, his papers and books, He casts in the scale, then himself climbs inside— But all weigh as nothing, discounted of worth Against the full nature and grossness of earth.

A smoky glare Of torches, which jaundice the lower air, And blacken the forehead of Heaven, As the children of Mammon toil up to the scale, Seven times seventy-seven. In they pour their glittering store, Stream on stream, Till the scale with the world flashes up to the beam, Bought and sold— Sold to the sons of the Genius of Gold. Thus the fair Universe, Untouched by the power of the sword, Unmoved by the power of the word, Is enthralled by the power of the purse.