[Page 249]

THE VANITY OF WEALTH:

AN ODE.

BY THE SAME.
1 NO more thus brooding o'er yon heap,
2 With Avarice painful vigils keep,
3 Still unenjoy'd the present store,
4 Still endless sighs are breath'd for more.
5 O quit the shadow, catch the prize,
6 Which not all India's treasure buys!
7 To purchase Heaven has gold the power?
8 Can gold remove the mortal hour?
9 In life can Love be bought with gold?
10 Are Friendship's pleasures to be sold?
11 No — all that's worth a wish, a thought,
12 Fair Virtue gives, unbrib'd, unbought.
13 Cease then on trash thy hopes to bind,
14 Let nobler views engage thy mind.
15 With Science tread the wonderous way,
16 Or learn the Muse's moral lay;
17 In social hours indulge thy soul,
18 Where Mirth and Temperance mix the bowl;
19 To virtuous Love resign thy breast,
20 And be by blessing Beauty blest.
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21 Thus taste the feast by Nature spread,
22 Ere Youth, and all its joys are fled;
23 Come, taste with me the balm of life,
24 Secure from pomp, and wealth, and strife.
25 I boast, whate'er for man was meant,
26 In health, and STELLA, and content;
27 And scorn! oh! let that scorn be thine!
28 Mere things of clay, that dig the mine.

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About this text

Title (in Source Edition): THE VANITY OF WEALTH: AN ODE.
Author: Samuel Johnson
Themes: money; wealth
Genres: ode
References: DMI 32597

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Source edition

Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. III. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 249-250. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1136; OTA K093079.003) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.790].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.