The patience of age, the keen honor of youth,
To guide us in doing and teach us in truth,
With the garnered ripe fruit of the world at our feet,
Both the bitter and sweet!
What is this that you offer? One man’s narrow purse!
One woman’s strained life, and a heart straining worse!
Confined as in prisons—held down as in caves—
The teaching of tyrants—the service of slaves—
The garments of falsehood and bondage—the weight
Of your own evil state.