Staked in the fateful race for weal or woe,
And, gold or silver, changed for lead at last?
CV
While dread Necessity, great Nature’s nurse,
Who rules man’s way for better or for worse,
Still watching by death’s bed and birth’s doth sit
To pour life’s blessing or to brand its curse.
CVI
Between the flickering lamps of day and night,
Cloaked in her age-worn mantle care-bedight,