Poems (Hoffman)/Ambition

For works with similar titles, see Ambition.
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AMBITION
Virtue or vice, which shall we call thy name?Parent of wealth, of liberty, of fame;Author of crime; shall reason bless or blame?
Thine offspring are in number as the sands,In monument to thee, all triumph stands;Yet, blood of innocence is on thy hands.
Stagnation into frenzy, thou hast turned;Kindled, in sluggish veins, thy fire hath burned;To censure and to praise thee, man hath learned.
Read where thy record fills the page of time,Inspirer of the cursed Cain, of crime;Creator of the noble and sublime.

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