Laws, as we read in ancient sages,
Have been like cobwebs in all ages.
Cobwebs for little flies are spread,
And laws for little folks are made;
But if an insect of renown,
Hornet or beetle, wasp or drone,
Be caught in quest of sport or plunder,
The flimsy fetter flies in sunder.

(C) James Beattie
03/19/2017


Best Poems of James Beattie

• Law
• The Hermit
• Nature
• Elegy
• Epistle To The Honourable C. B.
• To The Right Honourable Lady Charlotte Gordon
• The Triumph Of Melancholy
• Hope Beyond The Grave
• The Hares, A Fable.
• Elegy, Written In The Year 1758
• Ode To Peace
• Epitaph [to This Grave Is Committed]
• Retirement
• The Judgment Of Paris
• Epitaph, Intended For Himself
• The Minstrel; Or, The Progress Of Genius (excerpts)
• Ode To Hope
• The Minstrel; Or, The Progress Of Genius : Book I.
• The Wolf And Shepherds. A Fable