Is this our duty, wisdom, glory, gain?
(These Heaven benign in vital union binds)
And sport we like the natives of the bough,
When vernal suns inspire? Amusement reigns
Man’s great demand: to trifle, is to live:
And is it then a trifle, too, to die?
Thou say’st I preach, Lorenzo! ’tis confess’d. 62
What, if for once, I preach thee quite awake?
Who wants amusement in the flame of battle?
Is it not treason to the soul immortal,