Page:Poems - Lewis (1812).djvu/18
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POEMS.
Light as the wind, wild as the wave,He's both a tyrant and a slave;A fire that freezes, and a frost that's hot;A bitter sweet, and luscious sour!—Wretched is He, who knows his power;Yet far more wretched still is He, who knows it not.
His tongue is with persuasion tipt;His darts in poisoned honey diptSpeed to the bosom their unerring flight;His lips are rich in flattering lies,And oft a fillet o'er his eyesHe binds, and so conceals his faults from his own sight.
He has two cheeks of blushing red;He has two wings which still are spread,When most his stay is wished, most swift to fly:He joys in wanton tricks and wiles,And mark! that when he sweetest smiles,Then is the rogue most sure those tricks and wiles to try.