Shall these frail knees assay the treacherous ice;
How bear me safely to some distant place,
Amid the cruel sports of youthful vice?
And oh! how oft shall anguish rend this breast,
When luxury shall pass triumphant by,
In all the pride of costly ermine drest,
And cast on poverty a scornful eye.
But keener pangs, alas! this heart shall feel,
When some poor partner in affliction’s lot
Shall scenes of equal misery reveal,