Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/258

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He made forthwith a royal decree,

That Seneca should shamefully

Be put to death. Unbridled rule

This monster (mingled knave and fool)

Held o’er the Roman Empire wide,

That stretched its arms from side to side

Of all the earth; north, south, and west

And east, this madman’s sway confessed.

Good friend, I hope thou hast the wit,

Hearing my tale, to learn from it

That riches, rule, and honours high,

Full power and great prosperity,

And all the gifts Dame Fortune showers

With lavish hand on those she dowers

With worldly wealth, can never make

Those whom she favoureth to break

With vice and turn to virtuousness,

Proving them worthy to possess

The kingly rod; for if abide

Within their bosoms hateful pride,

The germ of every poisonous fruit,

Little to them will honours boot,

For ever as men mount more high,

Their crimes but blaze more openly;

For had they ne’er to power attained,

Their paltry vices had remained

Obscure, but when aloft men rise,

Then comes the crucial test which tries

The stuff they’re made of.

Oft I’ve heard

A proverb, which I count absurd

And false, though many a man, forsooth,

Will quote it for unquestioned truth.