“Hast trusted in a friend, and seen

No friend was he in need?

A common error—men still lean

Upon as frail a reed.

“Hast thou, in seeking wealth or fame,

A crown of brambles won?

O’er all the earth ’tis just the same

With every mother’s son!

“Hast found the world a Babel wide,

Where man to mammon stoops?