“Ah!” cries the parson, “all things good and fair,

All that is virtuous, wise, belovéd, rare,

Is sure the first to feel the stroke of fate;

While vice and folly have a longer date.”

“True,” cries the butcher, “for it is decreed,

The fattest pig, alas! must soonest bleed.”

THE CLOCK.

A mechanic his labor will often discard,

If the rate of his pay he dislikes;

But a clock—and its case is uncommonly hard—