He might a noble feast at will command;
Still he proceeded by his former rules,
His bait their pleasures, when he fish'd for fools;—
Flagons and haunches on his board were placed,
And subtle avarice look'd like thoughtless waste.
Most of his friends, though youth from him had fled,
Were young, were minors, of their sires in dread;
Or those whom widow'd mothers kept in bounds,
And check'd their generous rage for steeds and hounds;
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