On Conversation (1782) [ Concepts ]
… steams at length produce, When wine has given indecent language birth, And forced the floodgates of licentious mirth; For seaborn Venus her attachment shows Still to that element from which she rose, And, with a quiet which no fumes … while wrath is justly due. The time is short, and there are souls on earth, Though future pain may serve for present mirth, Acquainted with the woes that fear or shame, By fashion taught, forbade them once to name, And, having felt the … pleasure all their bent, And laughter all their work, is life misspent, Their wisdom bursts into this sage reply, Then mirth is sin, and we should always cry. To find the medium asks some share of wit, And therefore 'tis a mark fools never …
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