Page:The Venetian Bracelet.pdf/196

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And petty wishes, idle praise, Destroy the hopes of better days.

And hath no earlier vision taught A more exalted creed? Alas! that such a mind should waste Its powers away, to feed That wretched vanity which clings To life's debasing, paltry things.

The worthlessness of common praise, The dry rot of the mind, By which its temple secretly But fast is undermined. Alas! the praise given to the ear Ne'er was nor e'er can be sincere—