And as for treasures which men possess here,
Through fickleness of fortune soon fadeth away;
The greatest of renown and most worthy peer
Sometime falleth in the end to misery and decay.
Record of Dionysius, a king of much fame,
Of the valiant Alexander and Cæsar the strong.
Record of Tarquinius, which Superbus had to name,
And of Heliogabalus, that ministered with wrong;
If I should recite all, I should stand very long,
But these be sufficient plainly to approve,